BX  9178  .35  5  N4 

Smith,  Herbert  Booth, 

1883- 

1967. 

The  new  earth 

The  New  Earth 

And  Other  Sermons 

(  ^^' 
(       OCT 

HERBERT  BOOTH  SMITH,  D.  D. 

Pastor  Immanuel  Presbyterian  Church 
Los  Angeles,   CaL 


New   York  Chicago 

Fleming     H.     Revell     Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  State'  of  Amtrita 


New  York :  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago  :  1 7  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh :      75     Princes    Street 


To 

Jean  and  the  boys 

who  constitute 

the  church  that  is  in  my  house 

afid  to  the 

three  thousand  members  of  Immanuel  Church 

who  constitute 

the  church  that  is  ever  on  my  heart 


Foreword 

DURING  the  summer  of  the  eventful  year 
1918,  the  National  Service  Commission  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  planned  a  tour  of 
the  United  States  for  some  fifty  of  its  ministers. 
These  men  were  to  go  in  companies  of  two  each  to 
assigned  districts,  and  for  six  weeks  or  more  carry 
the  message  of  religious  preparedness  for  the  New 
Day  that  was  to  follow  the  war,  to  all  whom  they 
could  reach.  By  way  of  preparation  for  this  labour 
of  love,  a  series  of  interviews  was  graciously  ac- 
corded this  group  of  ministers  by  the  Department 
heads  in  Washington,  including  the  President  himself. 
Fresh  from  these  conferences  the  men  returned  to 
prepare  their  messages  of  reconstruction  and  recon- 
secration. 

In  the  providence  of  God,  however,  the  tour  was 
never  made.  First:  Because  of  the  influenza  epi- 
demic which  closed  all  public  meetings.  Second :  Be- 
cause of  the  unexpected  signing  of  the  armistice,  al- 
most on  the  very  day  when  the  itinerant  ambassadors 
of  righteousness  were  to  begin  their  work.  The  only 
recourse  that  was  left  to  the  men  was  to  deliver  their 
messages  to  their  respective  congregations.  The 
writer,  however,  has  dared  to  hope  that  some  of  these 
addresses  might  profitably  reach  a  larger  hearing,  and 
hence  this  book.    Read  it  if  you  will.    Profit  by  it  if 

7 


8  FOREWORD 

you  can,  and  if  you  cannot,  remember  that  the  Scrip- 
ture says  that  "  of  making  many  books  there  is  no 
end,"  and  give  the  author  at  least  the  credit  of  doing 
his  part  to  help  fulfill  this  prophecy. 

Herbert  Booth  Smith. 
Immanuel  Church  Study,  Los  Angeles. 


Contents 

I.  The  New  Earth 

II.  The  Breath  of  the  New  Day     . 

III.  The  Stars  Beyond  the  Smoke    . 

IV.  The   Ministry   For   the  Church  of 

To-Day  .... 

V.  A    New   Declaration    of    Interde 

pendence        .... 

VI.  Corn  and  the  New  Moon,  or,  Busi 

NESS  AND  Religion 

VII.  The  Twilight  of  the  Kings 

VI I I.  The  Way  of  Cain 

IX.  Compulsory  Atheism  . 

X.  Three  Great  Elements  in  Religion 

XI.  The  Program  of  a  Progressive  Lif] 

XII.  God's  Standard  Man 

XIII.  Near-Sighted  Nazareth    . 


II 

26 
43 

58 

76 

94 

107 
125 

139 
154 
168 
186 
205 


I 

THE  NEW  EARTH 
"  /  saw  a  new  earth." — Revelation  21 :  i. 

THIS  text  sounds  strange.  We  did  not  know 
it  was  in  the  Bible.  Is  it  really  there? 
Yes,  there  it  is,  in  the  place  where  it  has 
always  been,  but  the  reason  it  sounds  unfamiliar  to 
you  is  that  it  has  escaped  emphasis  because  it  stood  in 
the  background  of  another  great  statement  which  has 
hitherto  been  emphasized  at  the  expense  of  its  humble 
brother :  "  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth." 
Oh  yes,  we  place  it  now.  That  sounds  familiar. 
But  to  tell  the  truth,  every  time  we  read  that  phrase 
we  were  so  busy  thinking  about  the  new  heaven  and 
arguing  where  it  was,  that  we  did  not  have  much 
interest  left  for  the  lower  story  of  earth.  Well  now, 
I  am  going  to  pass  by  entirely  the  new  heaven  this 
morning  without  any  apology,  and  tell  you  frankly 
that  just  at  this  juncture  of  events  I  am  more  inter- 
ested in  the  new  earth  than  in  the  new  heaven. 

Why !  What  do  we  need  a  new  earth  for?  We  do 
not  usually  demand  a  new  hat,  or  coat,  or  auto,  or 
house,  until  the  old  ones  have  become  worn  out.  Is 
that  true  of  Earth  ?  Is  it  worn  out  ?  Yes,  I  believe 
it  is.  The  old  regime,  the  old  system,  is  worn  out  and 
run  down  at  the  heel,  and  instead  of  trying  to  patch 

II 


12  THE  NEW  EAETH 

it  up  again,  it  is  cheaper  and  simpler  to  build  a  new 
one.  Nobody  knows  how  old  the  earth  is.  One 
recent  guess  by  the  United  States  Geological  Depart- 
ment is  that  the  age  of  the  earth  is  between  55,000,000 
and  75,000,000  years.  Estimates  differ  widely,  for 
Kelvin  said  20,000,000,  and  Darwin  400,000,000 
years.  Nobody  knows.  Theology  has  132  different 
answers  for  the  age  of  the  earth  at  the  birth  of  Christ. 
But  while  theologians  differ  in  their  estimates,  scien- 
tists differ  still  more  in  theirs.  The  astronomer  Hal- 
ley  suggested  a  unique  way  of  determining  the  age  of 
the  earth  from  the  amount  of  salt  contained  in  the 
ocean.  The  assumption  is  that  once  there  was  no 
salt  water,  and  therefore  all  the  salt  in  the  ocean  was 
once  in  the  land,  and  has  been  washed  into  the  water 
in  the  passage  of  time.  Find  out  how  much  salt  is 
now  in  the  water,  find  out  how  much  goes  in  in  one 
year,  then  divide  the  former  by  the  latter,  and  you 
get  your  answer.  This  is  one  method.  The  other 
basis  of  calculation  is  geological,  and  is  a  study  of  the 
various  strata  of  rocks  known  to  science.  Darwin, 
Lyell,  Reade  and  others  have  worked  at  the  prob" 
lem  from  this  point  of  view  but  there  has  been  no 
agreement  among  authorities  as  yet. 

Here,  then,  comes  the  minister  (who  is  neither  a 
student  of  the  sea  nor  of  the  rocks,  but  a  watcher  of 
the  footprints  of  God  in  human  history,  and  a  reader 
of  the  signs  of  the  times)  and  he  makes  this  answer 
to  the  question,  "  How  old  is  the  earth  to-day  ?  "  "  It 
is  old  enough  to  demand  a  new  kind  of  human  life." 
So,  then,  his  answer  does  not  concern  the  physical 
age  of  the  earth?    Oh,  not  at  all.    It  concerns  the 


THE  NEW  EAETH  13 

higher  thing:  the  mental  and  moral  and  spiritual  age 
of  the  earth.  I  say  to  Science :  "  You  can  figure  on 
the  age  of  the  house  humanity  lives  in;  /  am  inter- 
ested in  the  age  of  the  human  race  itself."  "  Well, 
then,  you  mean  your  sermon  to-day  is  to  discuss  how 
long  ago  Adam  lived?  "  "  Oh,  not  at  all.  There  are 
other  ways  of  measuring  time  than  the  horizontal.  I 
am  talking  about  the  vertical.  Didn't  the  poet  tell 
you  long  ago  that  we  do  not  live  in  figures  on  a  dial, 
but  in  heart-throbs  of  sympathy  ?  Paul  does  not  say, 
'  Grow  in  girth,'  or  '  Grow  in  gray-headedness,'  but 
'  Grow  in  grace.'  "  That  is  my  viewpoint.  I  believe 
the  race  has  so  grown  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  that  instead  of 
believing  we  are  ready  for  the  pit,  we  may  see  so 
many  signs  of  progress  to-day  that  we  may  truthfully 
say,  "  I  saw  a  new  earth."  Let  me,  then,  call  your 
attention  to  some  of  the  things  which  catch  our  eye  as 
we  stand  in  the  watch  tower  and  survey  the  landscape 
o'er. 

/.  There  is  a  New  Attitude  Toward  Class  Dis- 
tinctions, or  a  New  Appreciation  of  Humanity. 

Dr.  Jowett  once  said  that  the  difference  between 
Jesus'  attitude  to  people  and  the  world's  attitude  to 
people  might  be  expressed  in  this  way:  That  the 
world  divided  people  into  three  classes  horizontally; 
viz.,  the  poor,  the  comfortable,  and  the  rich.  Jesus, 
on  the  other  hand,  divided  people  into  two  classes  by 
a  vertical  line :  the  saved  and  the  lost ;  the  sheep  and 
the  goats.  Now,  Jesus'  line  of  division  has  been  run- 
ning down  through  humanity  ever  since  He  pro- 


U  THE  NEW  EAETH 

claimed  it :  "  He  that  Is  not  with  me  is  against  me." 
But  His  line  has  been  obscured  by  those  artificial  lines 
which  Society  and  Public  Opinion  have  drawn,  and, 
my  friends,  what  we  have  got  to  do  is  to  take  the 
eraser  of  God's  grace  and  rub  out  the  world's  line, 
and  get  back  to  the  Jesus  line.  In  other  words,  we 
must  turn  from  the  surface  distinctions  to  the  real 
distinctions ;  from  Dunn  and  Bradstreet  to  the  Bible. 
For  the  word  of  God  knows  nothing  of  three  stories 
of  society,  and  woe  be  unto  the  Church  if  she  pays 
any  attention  to  them.  I  have  no  ambition  to  have  it 
said  of  any  church  of  mine  that  it  is  a  church  of  mil- 
lionaires, where  a  Galilean  Carpenter  would  not  be 
welcome;  but  rather  do  I  wish  it  written  over  my 
church :  "  The  rich  and  the  poor  meet  together.  The 
Lord  is  the  maker  of  them  all."  Dean  Hodges  of 
Cambridge  tells  of  a  Christian  woman  and  a  society 
leader  who  said  to  him  she  had  had  a  remarkable  ex- 
perience that  day;  she  had  met  a  carpenter  on  the 
street,  and  she  forgot  about  his  rough  hands  and 
soiled  clothes  in  his  interesting  conversation.  And 
Dean  Hodges  added,  in  his  kindly  but  searching  hu- 
mour: "  What  if  it  had  been  the  Carpenter  of  Naza- 
reth?" 

Consider,  then,  how  the  war  erased  class  distinc- 
tions. Why,  the  war  gave  the  democracy  of  Jesus 
Christ  a  chance  to  break  loose  In  the  world.  In 
England,  for  example,  society  ladles  have  done  all 
sorts  of  dirty  work  In  hospitals,  and  have  found  new 
meaning  In  life.  People  have  carried  parcels  home 
from  the  stores  who  left  it  to  delivery  boys  before. 
College  professors  and  chauffeurs  fought  side  by  side, 


THE  NEW  EAETH  15 

and  each  learned  that  the  other  was  not  half  so  bad 
as  he  thought  he  was. 

Lest  some  of  you  object  that  this  thing  of  class  dis- 
tinction has  no  bearing  on  religion,  let  me  go  back  a 
ways.  Do  you  know  the  Old  Testament  has  a  good 
deal  to  say  on  this  question?  The  sixth  chapter  of 
Amos  and  the  third  chapter  of  Isaiah  give  an  awful 
picture  of  the  waste  and  extravagance  of  the  rich 
people  in  their  day.  It  has  often  been  noted  by  his- 
torians and  sociologists  how  similar  conditions  were 
in  the  eighth  century  b.  c.  (say  in  the  time  of  Amos, 
Hosea,  Isaiah,  and  Micah),  to  those  which  exist  in 
our  own  day.  Therefore,  these  old  prophets  have 
many  messages  for  the  twentieth  century  about  this 
very  matter  of  class  distinctions.  Away  back  in 
Deuteronomy  you  find  legislation  dealing  with  the 
problems  of  poverty,  the  land  question,  rates  of  in- 
terest, etc.  The  third  chapter  of  Micah  is  a  stem 
arraignment  of  the  rich  by  this  peasant-prophet,  who 
himself  had  probably  suffered  under  the  lash  of  the 
oppressor.  A  minister  who  has  since  gone  bodily 
over  into  Socialism  told  me  once  how  his  church 
officers  objected  when  he  read  some  of  these  stirring 
sermons  of  the  eighth  century  prophets,  and  how  an 
elder  requested  that  he  preach  on  a  more  peaceful  and 
conventional  line  of  thought.  When  you  come  on 
down  to  the  time  of  Jesus,  you  find  Him  to  be,  as 
Lowell  said,  "  the  first  true  Democrat  who  ever 
breathed."  He  threw  social  distinctions  to  the  winds, 
and  horrified  the  prim  and  proper  who  always  did  the 
conventional  thing.  He  loved  to  shock  the  stand- 
patter.    He  always  voted  with  the  minority.     He  was 


16  THE  NEW  EAETH 

the  first  century  Non-Conformist.  He  chose  for  His 
associates  eople  Hke  tax-gatherers  and  lepers  and 
prostitutes.  When  He  set  up  that  revolutionary 
standard  of  His,  the  third-story  people  were  awfully 
shocked,  because  that  put  them  down  on  the  street 
level,  and  they  resented  it.  The  Pharisees  held  an 
indignation  meeting  once,  and  came  to  His  disciples 
and  said :  "  Your  Master  is  the  limit.  First,He  talked 
with  a  man  who  is  a  sinner,  and  then  He  dined 
with  a  man  who  is  a  sinner,  and  last  night  He  went 
in  and  lodged  with  a  man  who  is  a  sinner."  When 
you  turn  to  the  Book  of  James,  you  find  that  he  hits 
class  jealousy  an  awful  blow.  He  says  that  those  in 
charge  of  Christian  worship,  such  as  ushers  and 
preachers,  must  not  "  take  note  of  the  face  or  per- 
son." What  a  realistic  picture  is  that  which  he  draws 
in  his  second  chapter !  Here  are  two  men  who  enter 
the  synagogue  at  the  same  time.  One  wears  a  gold 
ring  and  gorgeous  apparel.  The  other  is  a  poor  man 
in  vile  raiment.  James  tells  you  exactly  what  the 
average  usher  will  do:  "  Ye  have  respect  to  him  that 
weareth  the  gay  clothing,  and  say  unto  him :  '  Sit  thou 
here  in  a  good  place;'  and  say  to  the  poor:  '  Stand 
thou  here,  or  sit  here  under  the  footstool.'  Are  ye  not 
then  partial  in  yourselves  ?  "  Probably  James  had 
seen  this  very  thing  happen  in  the  Jerusalem  syna- 
gogue. 

This  brief  survey  of  Scripture  references  will  show 
that  the  abolition  of  caste  is  one  element  in  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus,  and  one  essential  to  a  holy  earth. 
What  we  need  is  to  see  more  through  Christ's  eyes 
and  wherever  the  Gospel  of  the  Carpenter  has  been 


THE  NEW  EAETH  17 

fully  preached  it  has  leveled  the  classes  "-id  elevated 
the  masses.  A  man  went  into  the  prayefJ  meeting  of 
a  Christian  Church  in  Seoul,  Korea,  where  the  floor 
was  crowded  with  1,200  recent  converts.  He  saw  the 
brother  of  the  king  sitting  beside  the  humblest  la- 
bourer. If  you  go  to  Constantinople  you  can  see  a 
building,  which  is  called  Robert  College.  The  Russian 
Ambassador  kept  Dr.  Hamlin  for  nine  years  from 
building  that  college,  for  he  knew  what  it  would  do ; 
and  one  thing  it  has  done  is  to  make  a  free  Bulgaria. 
If  you  go  to  China,  you  will  see  a  Republic  rising  on 
the  ruins  of  the  Manchu  Dynasty,  and  the  only  thing 
which  explains  the  Chinese  Revolution  is  the  Gospel 
of  the  missionaries.  As  the  Chicago  Tribune  said 
in  the  first  week  of  the  war:  "  This  war  is  the  twi- 
light of  the  kings.  The  Western  democracy  of  the 
people  marches  Eastward." 

The  business  of  Jesus,  as  I  see  it,  has  been  to  strip 
off  surface  distinctions.  I  can  see  the  Master  in  fancy 
as  He  stands  among  a  group  of  human  beings,  and  He 
begins  by  stripping  the  colour  off  their  skins ;  He  does 
not  care  whether  they  are  red,  yellow,  black,  or  white. 
Then  He  strips  the  accent  off  their  tongues ;  He  does 
not  care  whether  they  speak  English,  German,  or 
French.  Then  He  strips  the  check-book  out  of  their 
pockets;  He  does  not  care  whether  they  are  rich  or 
poor.  Then  He  strips  the  Past  loose  from  the  Pres- 
ent; He  does  not  care  whether  they  have  a  police 
record,  or  a  family  tree.  After  He  gets  all  the  trim- 
mings off  He  faces  the  crowd,  all  brother  men,  and 
says:  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me."    I   remember   reading  how,   during  the 


18  THE  NEW  EAETH 

South  African  war,  a  Boer  marksman  shot  a  Con- 
naught  ranger  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Tugela.  The 
Boer  set  about  stripping  the  soldier  of  his  clothes. 
He  took  off  the  great  coat  and  loosened  the  tunic,  and 
then  saw  lying  on  the  breast  of  the  dead  soldier  a 
crucifix.  He  stood  still,  looking  down  at  it.  There 
stretched  a  great  gulf  between  the  Puritan  soldier 
and  the  Irish  papist,  but  something  bridged  the  gulf, 
and  that  something  was  the  Cross  of  Christ.  The 
Boer  stood  looking  down  at  the  crucifix  for  a  while, 
and  then  took  the  coat  and  covered  the  poor  body 
again,  and  walked  away.  He  could  do  no  indignity 
to  the  brother  for  whom  Christ  died.  Even  so  shall 
the  Gospel  of  the  Cross  be  the  bridge  on  which  men 
shall  tramp  over  to  the  promised  land  of  Brotherhood 
into  the  New  Day  that  is  to  be. 

//.    A  New  Emphasis  on  Justice. 

All  through  the  history  of  the  world.  Justice  has 
been  having  a  hard  struggle  for  its  life.  Autocracy 
and  Imperialism  and  Graft  are  not  the  inventions  of 
the  twentieth  century.  If  you  think  so,  open  the 
pages  of  the  Word  of  God  and  you  will  be  disillu- 
sioned. The  Pulpit  has  thundered  against  the  Throne 
before  now.  Nathan  denounced  David  for  planning 
the  temple,  and  for  killing  Uriah  and  marrying  Bath- 
sheba.  Gad  reproved  David  for  taking  the  census. 
Ahijah  incited  revolt  against  Solomon.  A  nameless 
prophet  from  Judah  denounced  Jeroboam  for  his 
false  worship.  Among  other  preachers  who  pro- 
tested against  royal  Invasion  of  the  people's  rights 
were  Shemalah,  Jehu,  Elijah,  and  Elisha. 


THE  NEW  EAETH  19 

The  situation  in  Micah's  day  was  very  much  like 
that  of  to-day.  He  saw  that  the  weak  and  the  poor 
could  not  obtain  justice  at  the  courts.  The  old  tribal 
elders  who  sympathized  with  the  peasants  had  dis- 
appeared, and  in  their  place  had  come  the  princes 
appointed  by  the  king,  whose  sole  ambition  was  to  get 
rich  quickly.  Class  prejudice  made  them  side  with 
the  rich  and  accept  bribes.  Then  as  now,  the  poor 
and  oppressed,  seeing  they  could  not  get  their  rights 
in  a  legal  way,  felt  that  they  must  take  matters  into 
their  own  hands  and  redress  their  wrongs  by  violence. 
The  consequence  was  that  repeated  revolutions  and  a 
state  of  anarchy  were  the  order  of  the  day.  The 
twentieth  century  after  Christ  was  thus  anticipated  by 
the  eighth  century  before  Him. 

Isaiah,  it  seems  to  me,  in  his  first  chapter  has  a 
message  for  our  time.  He  opposed  the  politicians. 
When  they  sought  to  insure  the  future  of  the  nation 
by  means  of  alliances  with  Assyria  or  Egypt,  Isaiah 
advised  trust  in  God  as  the  only  means  of  safety. 
He  said  that  when  the  fiery  trial  is  passed,  a  new 
order  of  just  judges  and  counsellors  will  be  estab- 
lished, and  Zion  shall  be  called  the  city  of  righteous- 
ness. So  he  referred  the  people  to  God  as  the  ulti- 
mate Source  of  prosperity  and  justice.  Emerson  in 
his  day  did  the  same  thing.  Listen  to  these  words  in 
the  light  of  the  trenches :  "  Secret  retributions  are 
always  restoring  the  level  of  the  divine  justice.  It 
is  impossible  to  tilt  the  beam.  All  the  tyrants  and 
proprietors  and  monopolists  of  the  world  in  vain  set 
their  shoulders  to  heave  the  bar.  Settles  evermore 
the  ponderous  equator  to  its  line."     Mr.  Melville  D. 


20  THE  NEW  EAETH 

Post  more  recently  in  a  current  magazine  has  said 
the  same  thing.  In  a  series  of  articles  in  the  Satur- 
day Evening  Post  some  time  ago,  he  told  of  a  num- 
ber of  mysterious  criminal  cases  that  baffled  the  wits 
of  even  the  shrewd  officers.  But  in  every  instance, 
sooner  or  later  the  offender  was  detected,  and  after 
reviewing  all  the  testimony  Mr.  Post  closed  his  final 
article  with  the  expression  of  the  opinion  that  the  un- 
guarded points  which  these  criminals  left  might  by 
some  people  be  considered  the  vagaries  of  chance,  but 
it  looked  as  though  they  were  the  agencies  of  some 
overruling  Authority  set  on  ultimate  justice.  There 
is  one  brief  utterance  of  the  Psalms  which  I  would 
commend  to  the  attention  of  demagogues  everywhere : 
"  The  face  of  the  Lord  is  against  them  that  do  evil, 
to  cut  off  the  remembrance  of  them  from  the  earth." 

"By  night  and  day,  o'er  land  and  sea, 
His  silent  couriers  run ; 
And  soon  or  late,  as  sure  as  Fate, 
God's  justice  will  be  done." 

///.     A  New  Theory  of  the  State. 

Aristotle  said  there  were  three  kinds  of  govern- 
ment :  Monarchy,  in  which  the  rule  was  vested  in  one 
person;  Aristocracy,  where  it  was  vested  in  a  few; 
and  Democracy,  where  it  was  vested  in  the  whole 
people.  Broadly  speaking,  we  may  say  there  are 
only  two  kinds  of  government  and  two  theories  of 
government  in  the  world,  Aristotle's  three  being  re- 
ducible to  two.  The  world  war  was  waged  to  deter- 
mine which  of  these  theories  is  correct.  The  one 
which  we  call  Autocracy,  or  Monarchy,  assumes  that 


THE  NEW  EAETH  21 

the  Monarch  is  the  State,  ruling  by  divine  command 
and  saying  with  Louis  XIV:  "  The  State?  /  am  the 
State."  No  devil's  lie  in  the  history  of  the  world 
has  caused  so  much  harm  as  this  pagan  view  of  the 
State.  If  we  grant  this  premise,  then  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  and  the  legitimacy  of  war,  and  the 
supremacy  of  force,  follow  as  naturally  as  day  fol- 
lows night.  If  this  idea  is  correct,  then  the  State  is 
an  inhuman  monstrosity,  and  I  should  join  the  I.  W. 
W.'s  in  their  demand  that  the  State  be  overthrown, 
for  government  would  be  synonymous  with  tyranny. 

The  other  theory  stands  at  the  antipodes  from  this 
one:  It  says  with  Plato  that  the  end  for  which  a 
State  exists  is  Justice.  It  says  with  Lincoln  that  no 
man,  however  good,  is  fit  to  govern  another  man 
without  the  latter's  consent.  It  says  with  Woodrow 
Wilson  that  the  little  powers  of  the  world,  the  Czechs, 
the  Slovaks,  the  Poles,  and  the  Ruthenians,  shall  be 
allowed  to  choose  under  what  form  of  government 
they  shall  live.  It  says  that  governments  derive  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  It 
says,  "  I  believe  in  His  Majesty,  the  People,  the 
Demos."  It  says  that  the  State  expresses  the  will 
and  the  preference  of  a  free  and  sovereign  people. 
It  refers  to  the  State  not  so  much  as  a  power,  but 
rather  as  a  brotherhood. 

The  contrast  between  these  two  theories  has  been 
illustrated  by  Dr.  Barton  by  two  contrasted  speeches : 
those  of  the  former  Emperor  of  Germany,  and  of  our 
great  ex-President  Lincoln,  each  man  addressing  the 
soldiers  as  their  commander-in-chief.  The  German 
Emperor  told  his  men  they  were  to  have  no  will  of 


22  THE  NEW  EAETH 

their  own.  They  were  all  to  have  one  will,  and  that 
was  his.  The  President,  speaking  to  a  regiment 
on  their  way  to  the  front  in  1864,  said:  "I  happen 
temporarily  to  occupy  this  White  House.  I  am  a 
living  witness  that  any  of  your  children  may  look  to 
come  here  as  my  father's  child  has."  When  the 
Kaiser  heard  of  a  mother  who  had  lost  nine  sons  in 
the  German  army,  he  wrote  her  a  grandiloquent  letter 
of  consolation  and  sent  her  his  photograph.  When 
Mr.  Lincoln  heard  of  a  Mrs.  Bixby  who  had  lost  five 
sons  in  the  Civil  War,  he  wrote  that  wonderful  Bixby 
letter  which  is  the  finest  example  of  English  in  so 
many  words  that  I  know. 

Now  then,  my  brethren,  there  is  only  one  question 
here  for  us  this  morning:  not  which  is  the  nicer  of 
these  two  theories,  or  the  more  efficient,  but  which  is 
the  more  Christian ;  which  one  would  Christ  approve  ? 
No  fair-minded  thinker  can  hesitate  long  to  answer 
that.  Lord  Acton  has  said  that  modern  Democratic 
government  came  out  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation 
by  way  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  the  Reforma- 
tion came  out  of  Luther,  and  Luther  came  out  of 
Paul,  and  Paul  came  out  of  Jesus  Christ.  So  you 
can  trace  modern  political  liberty  directly  back  to 
Christ.  As  I  see  It,  Jesus  Christ  is  longing,  my 
friends,  to  get  His  hand  on  the  State,  as  well  as  on 
the  individual.  I  believe  if  the  Master  could  once 
show  the  world  a  great  Christian  State,  He  would  see 
of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied.  Mr. 
Lecky  has  truly  said  that  Christianity  has  been  more 
successful  in  dealing  with  individuals  than  with  com- 
munities.   That  is  true.    There  has  never  been  a  real 


THE  NEW  EAETH  23 

Qiristian  commonwealth.  There  have  been  small 
Christian  communities  where  the  ideal  has  been  aimed 
at,  as  in  some  of  the  Anabaptist  settlements,  especially 
in  Monrovia  after  the  Reformation ;  but  for  the  most 
part,  Christian  States  have  been  dominated  by  selfish 
worldly  standards,  as  we  know  only  too  well.  So 
that  what  we  need  in  the  twentieth  century  is  a  Chris- 
tianized Christendom;  and  my  pride  is  that  America 
gave  to  the  world  the  first  illustration  in  history  of  a 
great  world  power  asking  itself,  "  What  would  Jesus 
do  ?  "  God  help  us  not  to  give  up  the  fight  until  Jesus 
Christ  shall  be  Lord  not  merely  of  our  souls,  but  Lord 
of  lords  and  King  of  kings. 

IV.    A  New  Conception  of  Giving. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  very  day  I  was  writing 
this  sermon  there  came  to  me  through  the  mail  the 
fifth  number  of  Missionary  Ammunition,  and  the 
title  of  this  number  was,  "  The  Money  Test."  As  I 
read  its  page  after  page  of  wonderful  instances  of 
sacrificial  giving,  I  said,  "  Certainly  I  am  in  the  right 
if  I  say  that  one  of  the  characteristics  of  this  new 
earth  is  to  be  a  new  conception  of  giving."  On  one 
page  I  read  these  words :  "  This  war  has  been  the 
greatest  educator  in  beneficence  which  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  As  a  California  man  put  it,  *This  war 
has  not  only  unlocked  the  money  chests  of  rich  men, 
but  it  has  smashed  the  locks  and  the  hinges.'  "  That 
is  true.  I  recall  that  one  May,  while  on  a  lecture  trip 
out  of  the  city,  I  met  one  of  the  travelling  collectors 
of  the  Methodist  Education  Fund.  To  my  surprise, 
I  found  that  he  had  secured  several  thousand  dollars 


24  THE  NEW  EAETH 

in  the  little  town  where  we  had  been.  As  we  stood 
at  a  small  out-of-the-way  junction,  he  pointed  to  a 
frame  grocery  store  at  the  cross-roads,  and  said,  "  I 
got  a  hundred  dollars  there."  I  would  have  thought 
he  would  have  been  lucky  to  get  fifty  cents.  A  cer- 
tain city  pastor  faced  a  missionary  who  wanted  to 
make  an  appeal,  with  these  words :  "  My  people  are 
being  bled  to  death  in  these  days."  And  yet,  this 
man's  church  a  few  months  later  contributed  more 
for  Red  Cross,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  war 
work  than  this  pastor  ever  dreamed  possible,  and  did 
it  with  ease  and  joy.  Something  is  happening,  my 
friends,  and  that  something  is  this:  We  are  getting 
new  standards  of  giving;  and  one  almost  begins  to 
believe  that  maybe  Jesus  was  half-way  right  when 
He  said,  "  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 
Some  ten  years  ago  the  pastor  of  a  very  wealthy 
church  placed  over  his  pulpit  the  motto  of  the  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement :  "  Not  how  much  of 
my  money  I  will  give  to  God,  but  how  much  of  God's 
money  will  I  keep  for  myself."  The  striking  state- 
ment began  to  do  its  work.  A  rich  woman,  not  in 
sympathy  with  missions,  came  to  the  pastor  and  said : 
"  I  wish  you  would  put  that  sign  away.  It  offends 
my  aesthetic  taste,  and  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  beau- 
tiful surroundings."  Technically  she  was  correct; 
but  something  else  was  hurt  beside  her  taste,  and  that 
was  her  conscience.  She  was  beginning  to  get  a  new 
vision  of  giving.  Finally  she  said :  "  I  will  give  you 
five  hundred  dollars  if  you  will  remove  it."  "  That 
is  not  enough,"  said  the  pastor.  "  That  is  worth  a 
missionary  a  year."     On  asking  how  much  a  mission- 


THE  NEW  EAETH  25 

ary  would  cost,  and  on  being  told  that  twelve  hundred 
dollars  a  year  was  necessary,  she  agreed  to  give  it. 
The  motto  was  then  removed  to  the  Sunday-school 
room,  where  it  began  to  do  its  quiet  work  again.  But 
the  woman  had  learned  the  lesson  of  stewardship,  and 
since  that  time  has  given  $50,000  for  local  charity, 
and  still  supports  her  missionary  beside. 

Now,  what  do  you  think  of  this  new  earth  which  I 
have  briefly  sketched?  Do  you  want  to  live  there? 
If  so,  take  a  hand  and  help  to  bring  it  about.  This 
new  Utopia  will  not  drop  down  from  the  skies  like  a 
ready-made  paradise.  It  will  be  manufactured  out 
of  the  toil  of  human  hands,  and  the  sacrifice  and 
sympathy  of  human  hearts.  Let  us,  then,  see  if  we 
can  persuade  heaven  to  get  a  little  nearer  to  earth 
than  it  has  been  heretofore.  Some  of  the  old  Jewish 
fathers  in  the  first  century  drew  a  picture  of  the  new 
earth  in  which  the  trees  would  be  so  fruitful  that 
they  would  bear  ripe  fruit  every  day.  The  righteous 
were  to  feast  upon  cake,  and  clothe  themselves  in  silk. 
God  would  serve  a  banquet  of  sea-monsters  and  oxen 
from  paradise,  and  mammoth  birds,  and  a  glorious 
wine  which  had  been  stored  up  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world.  Those  were  some  of  the  delights  held  out 
to  the  faithful.  I  offer  you  no  such  attractive  menu 
or  program,  but  simply  the  chance  of  rebuilding  civi- 
lization up  into  a  better  world  than  the  one  we  had 
before  the  war. 

"  To  the  work,  to  the  work,  then,  ye  servants  of  God, 
Let  us  follow  the  path  that  our  Master  has  trod; 
With  the  balm  of  His  counsel  our  strength  to  renew 
Let  us  do  with  our  might  what  our  hands  find  to  do  I " 


n 

THE   BREATH   OF  THE   NEW  DAY 

"  Till  the  day  break  (breathe),  and  the  shadows  flee  away." 
— Song  of  Soi,omon  2:17. 

I  SHALL  not  occupy  your  time  this  morning  with 
a  laboured  exegesis  of  the  setting  of  the  text. 
There  are  so  many  interpretations  of  the  Song 
of  Solomon  that  we  should  have  to  spend  too  much 
time  in  the  vestibule.  Let  me  invite  you  right  into 
the  drawing-room  of  this  beautiful  sentence.  Some- 
thing is  going  to  last,  we  are  told,  until  the  day  break 
(or  breathe,  as  the  Hebrew  has  it),  and  the  shadows 
flee  away. 

Daybreak  is  a  wonderful  time.  It  is  the  victory  of 
light  over  the  retiring  forces  of  darkness.  The 
shadows  of  night  have  held  the  field  for  several  hours, 
and  have  come  to  regard  it  as  their  own.  But  when 
the  shining  battalions  of  day  march  on  the  field,  the 
serried  ranks  of  murky  warriors  break  and  flee.  If 
you  have  ever  watched  the  battle,  you  know  that  your 
sympathies  are  always  with  the  invaders  rather  than 
with  the  pursued.  Well,  now  I  believe,  my  brothers 
and  sisters,  that  the  world  to-day  in  the  year  of  God's 
grace  1920  is  moving  out  of  shadow  into  mom.  The 
glorious  kiss  of  dawn  is  on  the  eastern  sky.  Even  as 
I  have  stood  on  the  Jericho  road  and  watched  God 
painting  red  on  the  Syrian  sky  over  the  hills  of  Moab, 
so  I  think  I  can  stand  on  the  Avenue  of  Re-creation 

26 


THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  ISTEW  DAY        27 

and  Renovation,  and  see  God,  like  a  divine  flagman  or 
heavenly  traffic  officer,  waving  away  the  dark  and 
waving  in  the  day. 

I  think  I  can  describe  the  night  by  one  word,  Self- 
ishness; and  the  dawn  by  one  word.  Altruism.  If  I 
am  not  mistaken,  the  funeral  we  are  witnessing  is  the 
burial  of  Egoism,  and  the  birth  is  the  birth  of  Other- 
ism.  In  other  words,  you  have  the  suicide  of  Self- 
ishness, and  the  incarnation  of  Love.  Now,  if  the 
race  is  to  endure,  this  is  a  biological  as  well  as  a 
moral  necessity.  One  of  the  oldest  truths  in  exist- 
ence, older  than  Christianity,  older  than  the  Bible, 
older  than  humanity,  is  that  Love  is  Life.  Take  the 
microscope,  and  peer  down  into  the  smallest  level  of 
life  observable,  and  there  you  will  see  in  the  act  of  cell 
division  that  the  welfare  of  the  species  depends  on  the 
sacrifice  of  the  individual.  In  every  normal  organism 
the  living  cells  are  every  hour  performing  the  act  of 
self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  the  whole  organism. 
When  you  come  up  as  high  as  the  human  body,  you 
find  26,000,000,000,000  cells,  all  in  a  great  corpora- 
tion, not  one  of  which  is  living  for  itself  alone.  Now, 
if  Love  and  Service  and  Sacrifice  are  the  laws  of  life 
down  on  the  biological  scale,  they  are  equally  the  con- 
ditions of  life  up  on  the  human  and  spiritual  plane. 
So  that  Jesus  Christ  was  biologically  accurate,  as  well 
as  theologically  correct  when  He  said :  "  He  that 
keepeth  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  he  that  loseth  his  life 
for  my  sake  shall  find  it." 

Philosophy  adds  its  word  to  that  of  Science.  Some 
of  the  English  moralists  of  the  eighteenth  century  de- 
bated this  question,  and  the  two  conflicting  views  held 


28   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY 

were  these;  Mandeville  wrote  "The  Fable  of  the 
Bees,"  in  which  he  tried  to  show  that  the  well-being 
of  Society  rests  on  the  selfish  instincts  of  the  indi- 
vidual. Me  held  that  greed,  and  jealousy,  and  envy, 
and  ambition,  are  the  real  roots  of  all  achievements; 
and  that  virtue,  on  the  other  hand,  is  merely  artificial, 
or  else  it  is  pretense.  Shaftesbury  took  the  other 
viewpoint,  that  man  is  really  a  social  being,  and  no 
individual  is,  as  Lowell  said,  whole  in  himself.  Man 
is  so  constituted  that  he  cannot  seek  his  own  good 
without  seeking  the  good  of  the  whole  system  to 
which  he  belongs.  Shaftesbury  was  the  first  writer 
to  suggest  this  idea  of  a  moral  sense,  a  doctrine  which 
is  such  an  important  element  of  our  thinking  to-day. 
The  same  difference  of  viewpoint  is  seen  between 
Aristotle  and  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Aristotle  held  that 
man  happy  who  receives  emoluments  and  honours, 
and  that  man  unhappy  who  is  compelled  to  give  in- 
stead of  receive.  Jesus,  strange  to  say,  reverses  the 
currents  of  procedure,  and  said,  "  It  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive."  Civilization  is  now  testing 
whether  Mandeville  or  Shaftesbury,  Aristotle  or 
Jesus  Christ,  is  right.  On  the  one  side  of  the  ques- 
tion are  such  witnesses  as  Caesar,  Charlemagne, 
Napoleon,  and  William  II;  on  the  other,  such  wit- 
nesses as  Stephen,  Socrates,  Joan  of  Arc,  Paul,  and 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  world  must  act  as  judge, 
and  impanel  a  jury  and  pronounce  the  verdict.  You 
are  out  in  the  court-room  looking  on.  In  order  to 
help  you  come  to  a  conclusion,  let  me  give  you  four 
different  pictures  of  this  conflict.  I  am  called  in  to 
testify,  and  I  shall  undertake  to  show  that  in  four 


THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY        29 

different  spheres  Selfishness  has  been  put  to  flight, 
and  the  New  Day  has  won. 

/.  There  is  the  Shadow  of  Personal  Selfishness,  or 
Individualism. 

Observers  from  the  battle-fields  of  Europe  have 
brought  back  word  that  when  men's  thoughts  are 
dominated  by  a  sense  of  responsibility  for  others,  fear 
always  vanishes.  Now,  this  is  a  fact  which  Science 
easily  explains.  Fear  is  one  of  the  selfish  emotions; 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  one  of  the  principal  impulses  to 
self -protection.  As  long  as  you  can  keep  an  animal 
or  a  man  thinking  about  self-protection  and  self- 
interest,  fear  and  hate  will  be  present.  But  just  as 
soon  as  consciousness  becomes  dominated  by  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  others,  courage  supplants  fear.  We 
know  how  a  dog  fights  for  his  master,  and  a  mother 
for  her  child.  Now  then,  following  this  clue  a  little 
further,  we  discover  that  fear  depresses  and  weakens 
human  life — is  a  negative  emotion,  while  altruism 
strengthens  and  elevates — is  a  positive  emotion.  Ah, 
now  we  understand  why  Paul  told  those  Corinthians 
to  seek  one  another's  good.  This  is  why  Jonathan 
gave  David  his  sword,  and  Abraham  gave  Lot  his 
choice,  and  Christ  gave  the  world  His  life. 

The  shadow  is  lifting  from  the  broader  battle-fields 
of  life,  as  well  as  from  the  fields  of  Flanders  and 
France.  Men  are  living  out  the  parable  of  the  grain. 
They  find  that  the  living  grain  is  very  lonely,  but  the 
dying  grain  brings  forth  much  fruit.  So  Marshall 
Wilder  believed.  He  went  up  to  George  Wharton 
James  as  they  stood  together  behind  the  scenes  just 


30   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAT 

before  he  went  out  on  the  stage  to  do  his  turn.  He 
was  suffering  excruciating  agony,  as  he  often  did, 
from  his  frail  and  deformed  body,  and  the  sweat  was 
pouring  down  his  cheek.  "  Put  your  arms  around 
me  and  love  me  tight,  George,"  he  gasped,  and  Mr. 
James  did  so.  He  gripped  his  friend  with  fierce  in- 
tensity, and  then,  wiping  his  brow  and  face  with  a 
brave  but  ghastly  smile,  rushed  upon  the  stage,  and 
in  a  moment  had  his  audience  laughing  at  his  quips 
and  jokes.  By  making  some  one  else  happy,  he  for- 
got himself.  So  Wilberforce  also  did.  He  was  so 
busy  helping  the  downtrodden  slaves  that  an  inquisi- 
tive lady  one  day  said  to  him :  "  Mr.  Wilberforce, 
aren't  you  afraid  you  will  neglect  your  own  soul  in 
the  midst  of  your  work  for  others  ? "  To  which  he 
replied :  "  You  are  quite  right,  Madam.  I  had  for- 
gotten that  I  had  a  soul."  Brave  old  Bishop!  He 
was  willing  to  risk  God's  mercy  on  his  own  soul,  while 
he  spent  himself  for  others. 

Nobody  crowns  with  a  halo  the  selfish  life.  Jesus 
never  said,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  spare  themselves, 
for  they  shall  be  safe  and  sweet  and  have  a  manicured 
soul."  No,  but  He  did  say  many  a  time,  "  Blessed 
are  they  that  fling  themselves  away  for  a  noble  cause, 
for  they  shall  be  immortal."  The  rosebud  that  shuts 
in  on  itself  is  soon  black  at  the  heart ;  but  the  flower 
that  gives  its  beauty  to  the  passer-by,  and  its  fra- 
grance to  the  breeze,  is  red  with  the  glow  of  life. 
Mr.  Bryan  has  compared  the  two  types  of  life  to  the 
buzzard  and  the  bee.  The  buzzard  soars  high,  but  it 
never  soars  so  high  but  that  it  is  thinking  of  itself  and 
looking  for  something  to  eat,  and  when  it  dies  it 


THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY   31 

leaves  nothing  but  its  own  body;  while  the  bee  pro- 
duces more  than  it  consumes,  and  leaves  a  legacy  of 
honey  when  it  dies.  Who  wants  to  be  a  buzzard? 
Nobody  loves  a  buzzard.  It  is  too  lonely  a  life. 
The  Central  Powers  of  Europe  have  adopted  the 
philosophy  of  the  buzzard  for  themselves,  and  where 
are  they  to-day?  Echo  answers,  "Where?"  They 
are  somewhat  like  the  lady  in  "  Stamboul  Nights  " 
who  lived  alone,  but  in  order  to  have  company  she 
had  her  house  filled  with  mirrors,  and  whichever  way 
she  turned  she  saw  herself.  Rowland  Sill  sat  down 
and  wrote  to  a  friend  something  like  this :  "  For  my 
part,  I  long  to  fall  in  with  somebody.  This  picket 
duty  is  monotonous.  I  hanker  after  a  shoulder  on 
this  side  and  on  the  other."  Well,  we  all  do.  I  don't 
know  about  abnormal  people,  but  normal  human  folks 
have  what  Henry  James  called  a  "  contributing  and 
participating  view  of  life."  Thomas  a  Kempis  wrote 
the  doom  of  the  black  selfish  life  in  this  way:  "  He 
who  seeks  his  own  loses  the  things  in  common." 

Do  you  know,  I  was  surprised  at  the  Bible's  mod- 
ern viewpoint  on  this  matter  of  selfishness  when  I 
turned  to  the  topic  the  other  day.  The  first  illustra- 
tion that  met  my  eye  was  this:  Hoarding  Foodstuff. 
Proverbs  11:26.  "He  that  withholdeth  corn  the 
people  shall  curse  him,  but  blessing  shall  be  upon  the 
head  of  him  that  selleth  it."  There  you  have  the 
condemnation  of  the  food  profiteer  away  back  in 
Solomon's  time.  What  think  you  was  the  second? 
Greed  for  Real  Estate.  Isaiah  5:8.  "Woe  unto 
them  that  join  house  to  house,  that  lay  field  to  field, 
till  there  be  no  place,  that  they  may  be  placed  alone 


32   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY 

in  the  midst  of  the  earth !  "  You  see,  land  magnates, 
a  perfect  description  of  the  baronial  and  junker  class 
of  Germany.  Here  was  the  third:  Total  disregard 
of  the  rights  of  others.  Ezekiel  34 :  18.  "  Seemeth 
it  a  small  thing  unto  you  to  have  eaten  up  the  good 
pasture,  but  ye  must  tread  down  with  your  feet  the 
residue  of  the  pastures?  and  to  have  drunk  of  the 
deep  waters,  but  ye  must  foul  the  residue  with  your 
feet  ?  "  How  about  Germany's  poisoning  the  water 
supply  of  the  French  and  Flemish  cities  ?  Here  was 
the  last :  Neglect  of  the  needy  and  suffering.  Matthew 
25 :  43.  "  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in ; 
naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not :  sick  and  in  prison,  and 
ye  visited  me  not."  This  for  the  people  who  sink 
hospital  ships,  and  dynamite  sick  and  dying  men,  and 
crucify  babies,  and  defile  the  earth  with  their  pres- 
ence. Have  I  not  cited  enough  to  show  you  that  the 
sins  of  the  black  night  of  European  diplomacy  are 
sins  of  Selfishness  ?  But  the  day  is  breaking.  Watch- 
man, what  of  the  night  ?  Cheer  up,  the  morning  com- 
eth,  and  in  its  winged  chariot  comes  peace  to  men  of 
good  will. 

//.  There  is  tUe  Shadow  of  Civic  Selfishness: 
Nationalism. 

I  believe  that  the  Nation  or  State  is  one  of  the 
mile-stones  on  the  avenue  of  human  progress,  but  not 
the  end  of  the  journey.  We  so  often  make  the  mis- 
take of  imagining  that  because  a  caravan  halts  a  long 
time  at  a  certain  tavern,  that  is  as  far  as  it  is  going. 
As  you  look  back  along  the  roadway  of  Evolution, 
first  there  is  the  mile-stone  of  the  Individual,  then 


THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY   33 

the  mile-stone  of  the  Family,  then  that  of  the  Tribe, 
and  finally  that  of  the  Nation.  Well,  is  the  journey 
done?  There  is  where  we  have  been  standing  for 
many  years,  but  the  great  war  is  going  to  push  the 
caravan  ahead.  The  next  mile-stone  is  the  mile-stone 
of  the  World;  or  in  other  words.  Internationalism. 
To  show  you  what  I  mean,  look  at  the  ancient  Jews. 
They  stopped  at  the  mile-stone  of  the  Nation,  and 
refused  to  march  on.  God  wanted  them  to  wait  there 
for  a  while.  He  elected  them  as  His  chosen  people. 
But  mark  this :  it  was  an  election  not  to  privilege,  but 
to  service.  So  when  the  day  came  for  them  to  march 
beyond  their  boundary,  God  sent  Jonah  to  Nineveh, 
and  Philip  to  Samaria  and  Gaza,  and  Paul  to  Asia 
Minor  and  Rome,  and  Jesus  to  Galilee  and  Samaria 
and  Calvary,  and  through  the  cross  to  the  whole 
world.  So  you  see  that  God  regards  the  Nation  as  a 
good  enough  stopping  place,  but  not  the  goal.  Just 
as  the  chambered  nautilus  continually  outgrew  its  old 
quarters  and  built  itself  a  larger  home,  leaving  its 
outgrown  shell  by  Time's  unresting  sea,  so  must 
humanity  do ;  and  the  State  is  one  of  these  outgrown 
shells,  and  we  must  leave  it  by  the  wayside  and 
"  carry  on." 

Professor  Dewey  has  shown  in  a  recent  book  that 
while  national  considerations  are  important,  moral 
considerations  are  more  important.  We  have  got  to 
change  the  old  slogan,  "  My  Country,  right  or  wrong," 
and  now  phrase  it,  "  My  Country  must  be  right,  and 
not  wrong."  If  the  world  war  was  caused  by  the 
protective  tariff,  as  some  tell  us,  then  let  us  have 
free  trade.     Prof.  Franklin  H.  Giddings  has  said: 


34   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY 

"  Until  the  nations  are  ready  for  world-wide  free 
trade,  they  will  waste  their  breath  in  praying  for 
world  peace."  The  author  of  "  The  Audacious  War  " 
writes :  "  The  sentiment  under  a  protective  tariff  is 
national  selfishness."  Well,  brethren,  if  this  be  true, 
we  must  revise  our  schedules,  for  no  nation  liveth 
unto  itself  any  more,  and  none  dieth  unto  itself. 
Hear  an  Indian  gentleman's  explanation  of  "  The 
Root  Cause  of  the  Great  War,"  as  he  calls  his  book. 
He  finds  the  cause  of  the  war  is  the  Darwinian  theory 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  and  claims  that  the  new 
light  which  can  dissipate  the  old  darkness  must  come 
from  the  East,  as  light  usually  does;  from  the  East 
with  its  ideals  of  altruism  and  mysticism.  I  would 
agree  with  him  that  it  must  come  from  the  East,  but 
if  you  ask  me  where  in  the  East,  I  would  say  not 
from  India,  but  from  Calvary. 

As  I  look  into  the  New  Day  ahead,  I  see  the  Chris- 
tianizing of  the  State.  Why  should  not  the  Nation 
be  converted?  It  is  only  an  enlarged  individual. 
Jesus  Christ  is  big  enough  to  dominate  100,000,000 
people  as  well  as  one  person.  I  think  Jesus  has  often 
lived  over  again  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Luke,  as 
He  has  seen  the  nations  elbowing  one  another  out  of 
one  sphere  of  influence  into  another.  You  remember 
how  Jesus  poked  some  quiet  humour  at  His  fellow 
guests  at  one  dinner  to  which  He  was  invited.  The 
Greek  says :  "  He  began  to  tell  the  guests  a  story 
with  a  meaning,  for  He  noticed  how  they  were  pick- 
ing out  the  chief  seats."  Jesus  said  to  them :  "  If 
you  really  want  a  good  seat,  go  and  sit  at  the  bottom 
place,  for  as  the  last  man  keeps  on  moving  up,  he 


THE  BEEATH  OP  THE  NEW  DAY   35 

will  finally  reach  the  top  place."  There  are  three 
stages,  you  see,  in  the  evolution  of  good  manners, 
both  for  the  individual  and  the  nation.  The  first 
stage  is  push  and  thrust,  like  the  beasts.  The  second 
stage  is  concealed  selfishness,  or  so-called  good  man- 
ners. The  third  stage  is  self-forgetfulness,  or  altru- 
ism. The  nations  have  stopped  in  the  first  and  second 
stages,  and  Jesus  is  begging  them  to  go  on  to  the  third. 
God  grant  that  they  may ! 

Any  one  could  fill  a  volume  with  stories  of  the 
night,  the  night  of  national  selfishness.  Think  of 
America's  treatment  of  the  Red  man,  the  Black  man, 
or  the  Yellow  man,  and  ask  if  America  has  acted  like 
a  White  man,  England  forced  opium  on  China,  and 
Russia  persecuted  the  Jews.  Belgium  committed 
atrocities  in  the  rubber  regions  of  the  Congo,  and 
Germany  stole  Alsace  Lorraine.  Great  Britain  went 
down  into  Africa  with  the  cry  "Avenge  Majuba  "  on 
her  lips,  and  Italy  swooped  down  on  Tripoli  more  in 
the  fashion  of  an  eagle  or  a  buzzard  than  a  peace 
dove.  The  "  balance  of  power  "  has  kept  Christian 
nations  with  their  hands  tied,  while  Turkey  has  gone 
on  massacring  the  Armenians  and  the  Syrians.  So 
that  one  of  the  first  things  necessary  is  a  Christianized 
Christendom,  and  it  begins  to  look  as  though  that 
were  being  done  when  you  see  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  finding  place  in  diplomatic  notes.  It  is  said 
that  when  Bliicher  came  to  London  after  the  battle 
of  Waterloo,  to  see  what  the  world's  metropolis  was 
like,  among  other  sights  they  showed  him  was  the 
view  from  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  The 
narrator  tells  us  that  when  the  distinguished  warrior 


36   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY 

looked  forth  upon  the  expanse  of  throbbing  life  the 
blood  came  into  his  face,  and  forgetting  himself  he 
cried  out,  "  Oh,  what  a  place  for  plunder ! "  That 
is  the  old  regime  for  you.  That  is  last  night,  the 
night  of  the  old  world.  But  that  is  not  to-morrow. 
No !  A  new  day  is  about  to  be  born.  One  of  our 
great  Presidents  said  in  an  anniversary  address: 
"  Selfishness  never  keeps  a  centennial ;  it  is  too  soon 
extinct."  So  let  us  have  no  centennial  of  the  war, 
for  that  would  be  a  centennial  of  selfishness  and 
plunder;  but  let  us  have  many  happy  returns  of  the 
New  Day. — 

"  The  day  of  rest  and  gladness,  The  day  of  joy  and  light, 
The  balm  of  care  and  sadness.  Most  beautiful,  most 
bright!" 

///.  The  Shadow  of  Ecclesiastical  Selfishness,  or 
Denominationalism. 

I  don't  know  just  when  Denominationalism  arose, 
but  I  do  know  that  we  find  a  surprisingly  early  ex- 
ample of  it  in  the  Church  at  Corinth,  You  find  this 
referred  to  in  the  first  chapter  of  First  Corinthians, 
Paul  states  that  certain  informants  have  told  him  that 
there  were  as  many  as  four  parties  in  the  Corinthian 
Church.  There  was  the  Paul  party,  and  the  Apollos 
party,  and  the  Peter  party,  and  the  Christ  party.  I 
can  imagine  how  these  divisions  might  have  arisen. 
I  can  fancy  one  brother  would  say :  "  Well,  I  am  for 
Paul.  He  Is  the  missionary  who  started  this  work 
going,  and  I  think  we  ought  to  be  called  the  Pauline 
Memorial  Church."  Here  would  be  another  brother 
who  would  say :  "  Well,  I  am  for  Apollos.  I  was 
carried  away  with  his  eloquent  preaching,  and  I,  for 


THE  BREATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY   37 

one,  am  an  Apollinarian."  Here  would  be  a  third 
who  might  say:  "  Well,  I  am  for  calling  the  Church 
after  Peter,  for  he  defended  the  faith  in  those  won- 
derful sermons  of  his  before  Paul  was  ever  heard  of 
in  the  Church,  and  I  think  it  is  a  shame  to  pass  by 
Peter  and  honour  Paul."  Then  here  would  be  the 
fourth  brother,  corresponding  to  some  folks  to-day, 
who  would  say :  "  Let  us  forget  all  our  divisive  names, 
and  call  ourselves  the  Christian  Church.  I  am  for 
Christ.  Let  all  human  leaders  go."  So  the  divisions 
rose,  and  this  fourth  party  was  just  as  much  denomi- 
national as  the  rest,  only  it  wanted  a  more  inclusive 
name. 

Denominationalism,  then,  is  no  new  thing,  and  has 
not  been  an  unmitigated  evil — not  at  all.  The  de- 
nominations represent  differences  of  temperament  as 
well  as  interpretation.  You  take  an  average  Chris- 
tian— let  us  suppose  you  find  him  a  Presbyterian. 
Add  a  little  more  starch,  and  he  will  become  an  Epis- 
copalian. Add  still  more,  and  he  will  become  a 
Romanist.  On  the  other  hand,  if  instead  of  starch 
you  add  water,  he  will  become  a  Baptist;  and  if  you 
add  still  more  water,  a  Campbellite.  Broaden  him 
out  by  flattening  him  so  thin  that  there  will  not  be 
much  thickness  left  to  his  theolog}'-,  and  he  becomes  a 
Unitarian  or  a  Universalist.  Expose  him  to  all 
changes  of  temperature — heat  and  cold  and  double 
positions,  as  the  watchmakers  do  with  their  watch 
tests,  and  if  he  comes  through  them  all  alive  he  is  a 
Christian  Scientist.  And  so  we  might  go  on.  If 
this  is  true,  then,  as  long  as  people  are  human  there 
will  be  varieties  of  temperament  and  ecclesiastical 


38   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY 

preference.  Surely  it  is  better  that  those  who  prefer 
the  liturgical  service  should  be  by  themselves,  and 
those  v^^ho  prefer  the  simple  service  by  themselves, 
rather  than  that  they  should  be  all  altogether  and  con- 
tinually get  on  one  another's  nerves.  So  I  can  easily 
see,  as  you  can,  that  Denominationalism  has  its  ad- 
vantages. People  have  different  tastes  in  politics,  in 
food,  and  in  amusements,  and  it  is  not  strange  that 
they  should  have  different  tastes  in  theology. 

The  trouble  comes  when  we  take  the  foot-note,  the 
parenthesis,  and  make  it  the  main  thing.  Denomina- 
tionalism is  secondary  to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  and 
when  we  reverse  the  order  we  get  into  trouble.  Sid- 
ney Lanier  describes  this  condition  of  things  in  his 
"  Remonstrance."  In  it  he  demands  that  Opinion  let 
him  alone,  and  cease  to  feature  his  Lord  by  rule  and 
line.  He  attempts  to  join  one  group  of  worshippers, 
but  they  reject  his  presence: 

"  Save  to  our  rubric  thou  subscribe,  and  swear 
Religion  hath  blue  eyes  and  yellow  hair, 
She's  Saxon  all." 

Then,  still  hungry  for  fellowship,  he  turns  to  a  second 
group,  who  thus  reply: 

"  Nay,  not  with  me,  save  thou  subscribe,  and  swear 
Religion  hath  black  eyes  and  raven  hair, 
Naught  else  is  true." 

And  then  the  poet  turns  indignant  upon  Opinion, 
which  would  usurp  the  place  of  Faith,  and  calls  him 
an  assassin  and  a  thief : 

"  Thou  savest  Barabbas  in  that  hideous  hour, 
And  stabbest  the  good  Deliverer  Christ." 


THE  BREATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY        39 

Glance  at  the  facts  of  Denominationalism  for  a 
moment.  There  are  201  denominations  in  this  coun- 
try of  ours.  There  are  six  different  kinds  of  Ad- 
ventists,  fifteen  kinds  of  Baptists,  ten  varieties  of 
Catholics,  twenty-one  types  of  Lutherans,  sixteen 
brands  of  Methodists,  twelve  sorts  of  Presbyterians, 
twelve  kind  of  Mennonites,  etc.  It  seems  to  me  that 
by  close  economy  we  could  get  along  without  quite 
so  many.  The  differences  between  some  of  these 
branches  remind  one  of  Lloyd  George's  famous  bon 
mot.  He  was  driving  through  northern  Wales  with  a 
famous  Free  Churchman,  and  the  conversation 
turned  on  denominational  differences.  "  The  Church 
to  which  I  belong,"  said  the  famous  statesman,  "  is 
torn  with  a  fierce  dispute.  One  part  says  that  Bap- 
tism is  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  other  that 
it  is  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  etc.  I  belong  to  one 
of  these  parties.  I  feel  most  strongly  about  it.  I 
would  die  for  it.  But  I  forget  which  it  is."  This 
speech  illustrates  the  fact  that  many  of  the  differences 
which  divide  us  are  unworthy  of  the  great  day  of 
federation  and  cooperation  and  alliance  in  which  we 
live.  I  firmly  believe  that  one  result  of  the  great  war 
is  going  to  be  a  closer  approximation  to  the  great 
brigading  together  of  the  Christian  forces  than  we 
have  ever  had  before.  If  Marshal  Foch  could  unite 
our  soldiers,  why  can't  Jesus  Christ  unite  our  Chris- 
tians? He  is  leading  in  a  far  greater  warfare, 
against  an  enemy  a  thousand  times  as  fierce  as  Berlin. 
The  poison  gas  is  on  us,  and  we  would  fain  turn 
from  it.  But  cheer  up,  discouraged  Christian  work- 
ers!   The  day  is  breaking  and  the  night  is  gone. 


40   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY 

Say  to  the  forces  of  Evil  in  the  name  of  a  united 
Church,  "  You  shall  not  pass."  And  when  the  Devil 
and  his  cohorts  find  that  the  Christians  are  getting 
together,  they  will  sign  an  armistice  of  unconditional 
surrender.  For  Jesus  Christ  has  promised  not  to 
any  one  denomination,  but  to  His  Church,  that  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

IV.  There  is  the  Shadow  of  Religious  Selfishness 
or  Atheism. 

Here  is  the  last  step  in  the  process.  Just  as  the 
world  has  gone  beyond  personal  selfishness  into 
brotherhood,  beyond  State  selfishness  into  Interna- 
tionalism, beyond  Church  selfishness  into  the  King- 
dom of  God,  so  may  we  not  hope  that  humanity  will 
go  beyond  soul  selfishness  into  harmony  with  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  spirits,  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  ? 
We  cannot  live  unto  ourselves,  and  if  we  cannot  live 
without  one  another,  we  certainly  cannot  live  without 
God.  This  is  the  tragic  Atheism.  I  am  not  talking 
about  the  Atheism  which  is  a  theological  fact,  but  a 
moral  fact.  I  am  talking  about  banishing  God  from 
our  horizon,  and  setting  up  in  business  for  ourselves 
in  an  orphaned  world. 

What  I  mean  is  put  into  beautiful  form  by  the 
Persian  legend  which  tells  of  a  lover  who  knocked 
at  the  door  of  his  beloved  and  craved  admission. 
"  Who  is  there  ?  "  asked  a  voice  from  within.  "  It 
is  I,"  said  the  lover.  But  the  voice  gave  answer, 
"  There  is  no  room  in  the  house  for  thee  and  me." 
So  the  lover  went  away,  and  wandered  for  a  year  in 
the  wilderness,  and  came  once  again  to  the  door. 


THE  BREATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY        41 

"  Who  is  there  ? "  said  the  voice.  And  this  time  he 
answered,  "  It  is  thyself  " ;  and  the  door  was  opened. 
He  had  so  identified  his  will  and  personality  with 
that  of  his  beloved  that  he  could  say,  "  I  am  thyself," 
and  she  let  him  in.  So  ought  humanity  to  march  out 
of  its  little  things  into  the  tremendous  domains  of  the 
love  of  God. 

I  believe  that  many  men  have  rediscovered  God  in 
these  stern  days  of  flood  and  fire.  Professor  Leuba  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding.  He  thought  he  dis- 
covered a  few  years  ago  that  American  men  of 
science,  real  cultured  men,  did  not  believe  in  a  per- 
sonal God,  and  he  said  the  more  eminent  the  men 
were,  the  less  they  believed  in  God.  Well,  if  Atheism 
was  ever  at  a  premium,  it  is  not  now.  The  old 
Sophist  who  was  expelled  from  Athens  for  heresy, 
and  whose  book  began  with  the  words,  "  Of  the  gods, 
I  know  not  whether  they  are  or  are  not,"  and  was 
burned  in  the  market-place, — has  not  found  any  great 
following.  Epicureanism,  with  its  jaunty  way  of 
looking  at  life  through  rose-coloured  glasses,  may  do 
well  enough  for  times  of  piping  peace,  especially  when 
it  tells  us  that  the  gods  do  not  concern  themselves  at 
all  with  the  present  world,  and  therefore  we  must  not 
fear  the  gods  or  dread  death.  But  beyond  all  your 
science  and  philosophy,  when  men  find  themselves  up 
against  the  circumstances  of  a  world  like  this,  they 
are  mighty  prone  to  ask :  "  Is  there  a  God  ?  Does  He 
care?  And  if  so,  is  He  able  to  do  as  He  wills?" 
Hence,  I  believe  that  God  is  going  to  have  His  right- 
ful place  in  the  New  Days  that  are  to  be;  that  He 
will  be  not  merely  a  theological  postulate,  a  convenient 


42   THE  BEEATH  OF  THE  NEW  DAY 

axiom,  or  a  national  party  cry,  but  a  Real  Discovery 
to  a  world  which  has  been  through  the  conflict,  and 
has  been  purified  as  by  fire. 

I  wonder  if  I  have  said  anything  to  send  you  away 
to-day  with  a  morning  heart.  We  ought  to  have 
springtime  souls,  for  the  old  order  is  dead,  and  be- 
yond Death  always  comes  Resurrection.  Have  you 
an  April  heart  to-day?  Oh,  get  out  into  the  op- 
timism of  faith,  and  believe  in  the  breaking  day. 
Can't  you  see  the  old  shadows  packing  up  their  tents 
and  making  off  into  the  night,  leaving  the  field  to  us 
children  of  the  sunshine?  Oh,  my  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, I  believe  in  the  God  of  the  dawn.  Slowly  the 
Father  lifts  the  curtain  on  the  sunlit  surprises  of  the 
world's  great  Christmas  Day,  and  among  the  Christ- 
mas gifts  I  think  I  see  the  things  I  have  mentioned 
to-day.  During  the  influenza  epidemic  a  certain 
service  was  allowed  in  the  open  air,  provided  the 
worshippers  would  sit  two  feet  apart.  Men  have 
been  doing  that  thing  long  enough.  Individuals  have 
sat  two  feet  apart,  nations  two  feet  apart,  churches 
two  feet  apart,  men  and  God  two  feet  apart.  But  no 
such  orders  are  to  be  issued  in  the  New  Day.  Rather, 
the  ordinance  must  read  that  men  will  be  permitted 
to  do  so  and  so  provided  they  will  be  sweethearts, 
provided  they  will  fall  in  love  with  each  other,  and 
fall  in  love  with  God.  Such  is  the  vision  which 
I  would  leave  with  you.  And  once  again  I  turn 
to  the  dear  old  words  with  which  I  began :  "  My 
beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  his.  He  feedeth  among  the 
lilies,  until  the  day  break,  and  the  shadows  flee  away." 


ni 

THE  STARS  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

"  Ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord." — Isaiah  43 :  10. 
"  Ye  shall  be  ivitnesses  unto  me." — Acts  i  :  8. 

I  WANT  to  bring  together  two  texts  this  morn- 
ing, one  from  the  Old  Testament  and  the  other 
from  the  New,  and  set  them  down  side  by  side 
for  purposes  of  comparison.  One  interesting  thing 
about  the  Bible  is  that  you  can  take  texts  from  the 
most  distant  books  and  set  them  down  side  by  side, 
and  they  do  not  conflict.  The  first  of  my  two  texts 
is  from  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  and  I  read  these  words : 
"  Ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord."  The  second 
of  the  two  is  from  the  Book  of  Acts,  and  I  read,  "  Ye 
shall  be  witnesses  unto  me."  Now  here  they  are,  one 
from  the  eighth  century  b.  c,  and  the  other  from  the 
first  century  a.  d.  One  is  spoken  by  the  great  prophet 
of  the  Old  Testament,  the  other  by  the  great  Prophet 
of  the  New  Testament.  One  is  to  Jews  and  the  other 
to  Christians.  And  yet,  the  same  word  is  used  to 
describe  God's  Church  in  both  cases,  the  only  differ- 
ence in  the  two  statements  being  in  the  tense.  God 
says,  "  Ye  are  my  witnesses ;  "  and  Christ  says,  "  Ye 
shall  be  mine."  Now,  this  change  in  tense  is  signifi- 
cant. Bring  the  application  down  to  the  modem 
Church  in  the  twentieth  century.  The  Church  to- 
day is  a  witness  unto  God.  Yes,  that  is  true.  But 
the  Christ  of  these  great  days  of  Reconstruction 

43 


44       THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

throws  it  into  the  future  tense  and  says :  "  I  am  not 
satisfied  with  the  present-day  witnessing.  You  have 
got  to  be  bigger  and  better  witnesses  in  the  future 
than  you  have  ever  been  in  the  past."  And  so  as  the 
Master  faces  these  new  days,  I  seem  to  hear  Him  say- 
ing to  the  Church  of  America :  "  Ye  shall  be  witnesses 
unto  me  in  the  United  States,  and  in  Canada,  and  in 
Mexico,  and  in  devastated  France,  and  in  Armenia 
and  Syria,  and  all  foreign  lands,  and  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth." 

Now,  let  us  look  into  this  word  "  witness."  My 
count  shows  that  the  word  is  used  179  times  in  the 
Word  of  God  Let  me  take  it  up  and  look  at  it  to 
see  if  I  can  discover  more  fully  what  my  two  texts 
mean.  The  fact  is  that  very  few  documents  were 
used  in  ancient  times,  but  business  contracts  were 
made  in  public  at  the  gates  of  cities,  and  some  formal 
ceremony  had  to  be  gone  through  which  witnesses 
might  observe  and  recall  in  after  years.  The  pro- 
cedure was  very  simple.  The  courts  were  held  in 
the  open.  Each  side,  accused  and  accuser,  stated  its 
case.  The  accuser  stood  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
accused,  who  frequently  wore  a  mourning  garb. 
Two  or  three  witnesses  were  summoned,  who  testi- 
fied on  oath,  and  the  very  heaviest  penalties  were  in- 
flicted for  false  witnessing  or  bribing  of  judges. 
Loyalty  to  truth  was  never  a  prominent  virtue  among 
Asiatic  peoples,  and  hence  one  of  our  Ten  Com- 
mandments forbids  the  practice  of  false  witnessing. 
Now  the  witnesses,  in  case  of  the  death  penalty,  were 
the  first  to  lay  their  hands  on  the  condemned  man 
and  to  execute  the  sentence.    Josephus   says  that 


THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE       45 

women  and  children  were  excluded  from  giving  testi- 
mony by  the  Mosaic  Law,  and  this  may  have  been 
partly  on  account  of  the  above  custom.  This  brief 
survey  of  ancient  customs  will  prepare  us  for  a  word 
about  modern  times.  In  our  modern  law  courts  at- 
tendance as  a  witness  is  a  compulsor}'  duty,  and  the 
presence  of  any  person  for  the  purpose  of  acting  as 
a  witness  can  be  compelled  by  law.  If  a  witness  does 
not  attend  at  the  time  and  place  mentioned,  he  is  liable 
to  be  punished  either  by  imprisonment  or  fine.  "Any 
person  is  compelled  to  become  a  witness  who  has  suf- 
ficient mental  capacity  to  understand  the  nature  of 
an  oath  and  the  nature  of  the  matters  about  which  he 
is  to  testify." 

Now,  let  us  go  back  to  our  texts.  It  must  be  evi- 
dent that,  in  the  light  of  the  Bible  and  the  law  books, 
witness  bearing,  or  the  giving  of  testimony,  is  a 
supremely  important  duty.  Very  well,  then,  the 
Church  must  not  neglect  its  performance.  And  yet, 
the  history  of  the  Church  shows  that  this  privilege 
has  often  been  sadly  forgotten.  Take  as  just  one 
proof  of  this  statement  the  rise  of  Mohammedanism. 
Bishop  Nicholson  says  that  the  origin  of  Islam  can 
be  traced  to  Christian  slackers.  Once  all  North 
Africa  was  Christian.  There  were  five  hundred 
bishops  and  countless  scholars.  But  what  happened? 
The  Church  became  self-satisfied  and  exclusive. 
"  We  live  in  a  different  world,"  said  Cyprian ;  "  we 
draw  to  ourselves,  and  feast  our  souls  jn  the  vision 
of  God."  That  was  their  mistake.  While  they  were 
eaten  up  with  egotism,  there  were  hungry  souls  out 
in  the  desert.    While  the  Church  was  quibbling  over 


46       THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

theological  puzzles,  a  crafty  fellow  took  the  Old 
Testament  out  in  the  desert  and  brought  forth  the 
Koran.  Mohammedanism  need  not  have  cursed  the 
world  had  the  Church  been  faithful  to  its  testimony. 
Let  me  use  this  as  a  parable.  Again  the  Church 
has  its  scholars  and  dignitaries.  Once  again  the 
world  is  a  desert  full  of  hungry  souls  waiting  to  be 
fed  with  the  Bread  of  Life.  What  shall  we  do? 
Well,  there  are  just  two  roads  we  may  take,  and  you 
find  them  both  in  the  story  of  the  loaves  and  fishes. 
One  is  the  road  of  selfishness ;  the  other,  the  road  of 
service.  The  first  says :  "  Send  the  people  away  that 
they  may  buy  bread;  it  is  not  our  business  to  feed 
them.  The  Church  did  not  start  the  war.  The  world 
did.  Let  the  world  finish  it.  We  will  go  on  with  our 
meditations."  But  the  other  answer  is  the  way  of 
the  great  Master :  "  They  need  not  depart.  Give  ye 
them  to  eat."  Oh,  Church !  The  world  of  war-sick 
people  need  not  go  elsewhere  for  guidance.  Give  ye 
them  to  eat.  You  have  not  only  five  loaves  and  two 
fishes.  You  have  the  Book  of  Life.  Answer  their 
pleading  call.  Swing  your  doors  outward  instead  of 
inward.  Don't  build  a  sound-proof  wall  between 
yourselves  and  the  desert.  Sing  out  your  anthems  of 
Renewal  and  Reconstruction.  Find  a  path  through 
the  maze.  Give  them  a  few  great  standards  by 
which  to  measure  Truth.  Exhibit  a  few  familiar 
landmarks  in  the  landscape  which  has  been  upset  by 
the  cyclone.  Hang  out  a  few  stars  beyond  the 
smoke.  "  Be  my  witnesses,"  salth  the  Lord.  Let 
me  suggest  three  or  four  elements  of  the  Church's 
testimony. 


THE  STAE8  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE       47 

/.  One  Great  Word  the  Church  Should  Empha- 
size is  Righteousness. 

You  know  how  repeatedly  during  the  early  stages 
of  the  war  the  question  was  asked:  "What  are  we 
fighting  for?  Somebody  please  tell  us  what  all  this 
is  about.  Are  we  like  boys  at  play  who  tussle  just 
for  the  fun  of  it,  just  to  show  our  new  uniforms  or 
try  our  new  guns?  Or  are  we  really  trying  to  get 
somewhere?  If  so,  somebody  please  tell  us  where  we 
are  trying  to  go.  We  don't  mind  fighting  down  in  the 
mud  if  we  are  on  our  way  to  the  stars,  but  we  insist 
on  seeing  the  stars  through  the  mist.  Beyond  the 
real  must  be  the  ideal.  This  business  of  killing  we 
are  engaged  in  is  not  the  ultimate.  This  is  just  the 
wilderness  leading  to  the  promised  land.  But  tell 
us  more  about  this  promised  land."  You  remember 
how  often  this  was  heard  in  the  early  days  of  con- 
flict, and  how  in  response  to  this  universal  call  the 
leading  spokesmen  of  the  world  on  both  sides  of  the 
conflict  set  down  on  paper  some  of  the  things  they 
were  fighting  for.  It  may  not  be  generally  known 
that  eighteen  months  after  the  war  began  the  British 
Government  appointed  a  committee  to  study  the  prob- 
lems of  Reconstruction.  This  was  not  due  to  any 
illusions  that  the  war  was  nearly  over,  but  simply  a 
wise  desire  to  prepare  beforehand  for  ultimate  days 
of  peace.  So  in  the  same  way,  the  Church  lifted  its 
hand  above  the  smoke  and  said  to  the  warring 
peoples :  "  Listen  to  my  voice.  Stop  the  machine 
guns  one  moment.  Don't  lose  your  soul  down  there 
in  the  battle.  Remember  you  are  fighting  for  right- 
eousness, for  the  rule  of  Right  rather  than  Might." 


48       THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

Let  us  consider  this  a  moment.  Righteousness  is 
one  of  the  great  notes  of  the  Scripture  piano  which 
is  struck  time  and  again.  The  Hebrew  words  for 
righteousness  in  the  Old  Testament  signified  right- 
ness;  that  is  the  righteous  man  is  a  man  who  is 
right  with  God.  Now,  the  eighth  century  prophets 
said  the  same  thing  in  different  words.  They  taught 
ethical  monotheism  for  the  first  time  in  history.  God 
is  one,  and  God  is  holy.  Hence,  since  God  is  right- 
eous, He  demands  righteousness  in  men.  That  was 
their  argument.  "  What  doth  the  Lord  require  of 
thee,  O  man,  but  to  do  justice,  to  love  mercy,  and  to 
walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ? "  Notice  this,  my 
hearers :  Right  is  not  simply  my  side  of  the  question. 
Right  is  God's  side  of  the  question ;  and  the  only  way 
I  can  be  sure  I  am  right  is  to  be  perfectly  sure  I  am 
on  God's  side.  The  right  thing  to  do  in  any  issue  is 
the  will  of  God.  Hence,  these  eighth  century 
prophets  have  a  message  for  us  to-day. 

Follow  the  same  idea  over  into  the  New  Testament, 
and  here  is  what  you  find.  There  are  three  kinds  of 
righteousness  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  and  not 
one  only.  There  is  imputed  righteousness,  which 
means  the  righteousness  God  sets  down  to  my  ac- 
count when  I  accept  Christ.  There  is  imparted 
righteousness,  which  means  that  by  regenerating  a 
man,  God  by  His  Spirit  gives  him  a  new  moral  life. 
Then  there  is  attained  righteousness,  which  means 
that  man  must  win  righteousness  also  by  effort.  We 
must  work  out  what  God  has  worked  in. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  if  a  man  has  the  right 
philosophy  of  life,  he  must  believe  that  righteousness 


THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE       49 

(or  what  is  the  same  thing,  the  Divine  Will)  shall 
ultimately  prevail  in  every  contest  on  this  earth.  Ah, 
in  the  dark  days  of  the  great  conflict,  when  the  line 
of  the  Western  Front  bent  so  far  that  it  nearly  broke, 
this  was  the  faith  which  nerved  those  splendid  braves 
to  fight  with  their  backs  against  the  wall,  to  "  carry 
on  "  in  spite  of  an  enemy  armed  to  the  teeth  and 
hard-boiled  to  the  soul.  They  were  somewhat  like 
the  young  recruit  who  was  reproved  by  his  sergeant. 
His  uniform  was  on  wrong,  and  he  carried  his  rifle 
like  a  hay-fork.  So  the  sergeant  said:  "Let's  see 
if  you  can  march.  Right  about  face."  The  recruit, 
not  knowing  what  the  command  meant,  stood  his 
ground,  and  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief,  and  stood  stock 
still.  "  Thank  goodness,"  he  said,  "  I  am  right  about 
something  anyway."  Like  the  young  recruit,  the 
Allies  stood  stock  still  and  said,  "  They  shall  not 
pass."  They  knew  they  were  right  about  God's 
eternal  purpose,  and  straightway  they  refused  to  turn 
right  about  face.  And  so  the  line  held,  not  because 
our  men  were  stronger,  but  because  it  was  held  by 
the  righteous  hand  of  a  holy  God.  The  Psalmist  said, 
"  Thy  righteousness  is  like  the  great  mountains,"  and 
the  enemy  stormed  that  mountain  in  vain. 

"  We  know  that  the  truth  shall  triumph, 

That  evil  shall  find  its  doom ; 
That  the  cause  of  right,  though  subdued  by  might, 

Shall  break  from  the  strongest  tomb ; 
That  wrong,  though  it  seems  to  triumph. 

Lasts  only  for  a  day, 
While  the  cause  of  truth  has  eternal  youth, 

And  shall  rule  the  world  for  aye ! " 


50       THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

//.     Another  Great  Word  is  Repentance. 

Do  you  see  how  my  second  point  logically  follows 
the  first  ?  What  else  could  follow  it  ?  First,  the  will 
of  God.  Right  is  held  up  before  the  nation, — before 
all  nations.  Fancy  the  nations  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury placing  themselves,  their  selfish  diplomacy  and 
their  rotten  intrigue,  up  against  the  Ten  Command- 
ments and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  What  think 
you  they  will  do?  They  will  blush  for  shame,  and 
fall  upon  their  knees  and  cry,  "  God  be  merciful  to 
us,  sinners."  This  was  the  experience  of  Isaiah: 
"  In  the  year  that  King  Uzziah  died,  I  saw  the  Lord. 
Then  said  I,  '  Woe  is  me.'  "  That  is  the  program  of 
every  sincere  soul,  whether  individual  or  corporate. 
First,  I  see  God.  Then  I  see  myself.  And  when  I 
see  myself  I  say,  "  I  abhor  myself  in  dust  and  ashes." 

"  Well,"  but  you  say,  "  can  a  nation  repent  ? " 
Certainly,  for  a  nation  is  just  an  enlarged  indi- 
vidual. There  is  a  very  curious  parallel  between  the 
ancient  Pharisees  and  the  modern  Prussians.  His- 
tory, you  know,  is  fond  of  repeating  itself.  The 
Pharisees  looked  upon  their  law  as  a  kind  of  contract 
with  Jehovah,  by  the  terms  of  which  God  could  be 
compelled  to  give  the  Jews  the  empire  over  the  whole 
world  as  soon  as  they  could  succeed  in  fulfilling  the 
law  without  a  mistake.  They  had  a  saying  that  if 
the  Jews  could  succeed  in  keeping  two  Sabbath  days 
with  complete  adherence  to  all  ceremonies,  then  God 
would  be  compelled  to  intervene  and  set  up  the  empire 
of  the  Jews.  This  intervention  was  expected  to  be  a 
stupendous  miracle.  The  heavens  were  to  open,  and 
armies  of  angelic  warriors  were  to  come  in  chariots 


THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE       51 

of  flame.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  were  to  be  the 
rulers  of  the  world,  and  all  pious  Pharisees  who  had 
died  were  to  rise  from  the  dead  and  live  on  forever 
as  part  of  the  ruling  caste.  There  were  scores  of 
Apocalypses  in  circulation  which  expressed  this  hope. 
You  remember  the  war  literature  of  the  Central 
Powers,  and  you  see  the  parallel  to  which  I  refer. 
The  "  good  old  German  God "  was  believed  to  be 
their  special  ally,  and  He  was  to  give  them  world 
rule  as  soon  as  they  cleansed  the  promised  land  of 
their  enemies.  Hence  Germany  to-day  must  be  not 
ohly  beaten,  but  repentant. 

Here,  then,  is  the  call  for  the  prophet.  The  mod- 
ern prophet  must  tell  the  nations  just  what  the  eighth 
century  prophets  told  the  Pharisees :  that  God  has  no 
pets,  "  In  every  nation,  he  that  feareth  God  and 
worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of  Him."  God  has 
no  nationality.  God  cannot  be  confined  within 
geographical  divisions.  The  Almighty  is  not  in- 
terested in  geographical  lines,  but  in  ethical  lines, 
right  and  wrong.  It  makes  no  difference  what  the 
colour  of  your  skin  or  the  shape  of  your  flag  may  be. 
You  have  got  to  toe  the  mark  of  God's  holy  law,  and 
if  you  have  done  wrong  as  a  people,  you  must  repent. 
"  Now  if  that  be  treason,"  said  the  ancient  prophets, 
and  say  we  to-day,  "make  the  most  of  it."  When 
the  war  was  two  years  old,  the  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York,  realizing  the  critical  issues  of 
the  time,  decided  that  a  great  national  mission  of  re- 
pentance and  hope  was  the  measure  best  calculated 
to  meet  the  needs  of  Great  Britain.  And  so  in  the 
autumn  of  1916  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 


52       THE  8TAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

land  went  up  and  down  the  lands  of  the  crown  and 
called  upon  the  people  to  repent.  There  were  some 
who  felt  at  that  time  that  the  date  was  not  opportune, 
and  that  it  would  have  been  easier  to  wait  for  the 
reaction  of  the  peace  days  for  the  victorious  nation  to 
express  its  repentance.  At  any  rate,  it  is  high  time 
for  us  in  these  days  to  call  the  nations  to  their  knees. 
For  as  Joseph  Hardy  said,  "  The  only  way  a  people 
can  really  advance  is  on  their  knees."  Now  that  the 
hurrahs  of  victory  have  come,  lest  we  lose  ourselves 
in  the  excitement  of  our  returning  soldier  boys,  let  a 
sense  of  the  awful  folly  of  four  wasted  years  keep  us 
sober.  A  great  international  chorus  will  have  to 
learn  the  words  of  Kipling's  Recessional : 

"  The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies, 
The  captains  and  the  kings  depart ; 

Still  stands  thine  ancient  sacrifice, 
A  humble  and  a  contrite  heart: 

Lord  God  of  hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget,  lest  we  forget." 

///.     The  Third  Great  Word  is  Sacrifice. 

True  repentance  leads  to  sacrifice.  False  repent- 
ance stops  in  sorrow.  That  is  the  difference.  Look 
at  the  case  of  Isaiah  once  more.  After  humiliation 
came  consecration.  "  Then  said  I,  *  Woe  is  me.' " 
But  did  he  stop  there?  No,  he  went  on:  "Then 
said  I,  '  Here  am  I ;  send  me.' "  This  is  exactly 
the  difference  between  the  two  New  Testa- 
ment words  for  repentance:  metamellomai,  and 
metanoia.  If  you  know  which  word  is  used  in 
the  Greek  New  Testament,  you  can  tell  whether  the 
repentance  is  going  to  get  any  further  than  the  hand- 
kerchief or  not.    The  first  one  means  "  to  change  the 


THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE       53 

feelings  "  but  the  second  one  means  "  to  change  the 
mind  or  will."  When  Catch-my-pal-Patterson  gets 
an  audience  on  its  feet  to  register  their  resolution  con- 
cerning the  use  of  strong  drink,  he  does  not  let  them 
stop  with  the  emotion  of  anger  against  drink.  He 
asks  them  to  double  up  the  right  fist,  punch  an  imag- 
inary antagonist,  and  say  in  unison,  "  We  will  see  this 
thing  through."  It  is  high  time  that  the  Church,  in- 
stead of  stopping  half-way  on  its  crusades  of  Salva- 
tion, should  double  up  its  fists  and  say :  "  We  will  see 
this  through,  the  whole  program :  Righteousness,  Re- 
pentance, Sacrifice." 

The  world  has  a  new  idea  of  service  since  the  war. 
We  have  been  preaching  service  ever  since  Jesus 
practiced  it,  but  somehow  the  old  world  kept  on  say- 
ing :  "  We  are  not  impressed  by  your  sermons.  Have 
you  a  book  of  acts  ?  "  Then  came  the  war  with  such 
incidents  as  this :  Word  came  to  me  that  the  only  son 
in  the  wealthiest  family  in  the  city  of  my  former 
parish  had  fallen  in  France.  How  often  that  beautiful 
estate  and  mansion  were  the  envy  of  the  passers-by ! 
And  yet  how  aimless  seemed  the  life  which  was  lived 
in  that  home,  with  a  succession  of  teas  and  recep- 
tions and  diners-dansants !  Then  war  was  declared. 
The  father,  who  had  seen  military  service  years  be- 
fore, went  into  the  army  as  a  general,  and  the  boy, 
the  only  son  of  the  home,  went  into  the  aviation  serv- 
ice and  fell  at  his  post.  As  I  thought  of  it  I  said: 
"  No  amount  of  wages  would  have  made  that  father 
and  son  go.  No  appeal  to  fame  would  have  made 
them  risk  their  lives.  But  the  call  to  serve,  to  serve 
their  country  and  their  fellow-men,  pulled  them  from 


64       THE  STABS  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

the  mansion  to  the  trench."  Oh,  my  friends,  we  need 
no  laboured  theology  now  to  explain  to  people  what 
service  means.  We  can  simply  say :  "  Look  at  the 
trenches:  there  is  an  illustrated  sermon,  a  moving 
picture,  of  Service  First,  and  Safety  Last." 

Ministers  themselves,  the  men  whose  very  title 
means  service,  have  rediscovered  the  idea.  Recently 
we  read  of  a  clergyman  at  the  front  who  sold  stamps 
to  the  glory  of  God.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  with  which 
he  was  quartered  was  long  on  speakers  but  short  one 
secretary,  and  the  minister  consented  to  substitute  at 
the  latter  job.  But  after  a  few  days  he  was  ready 
to  go  home.  He  said :  "  Any  cheap  clerk  can  do  this 
work.  It  is  not  big  enough  for  me."  The  Building 
Secretary  answered :  "  I  am  sorry  you  find  no  chance 
to  get  your  message  over  as  you  sell  your  stamps,  for 
I  find  I  can  put  nearly  all  of  First  John  into  a  wink." 
Then  the  Secretary  sketched  the  varied  avenues  of 
service,  and  the  minister  saw  a  new  light.  He  said, 
"  From  this  time  on  I  mean  to  be  the  postage  stamp 
apostle."  And  so  this  man  found  an  evangelistic 
way  of  selling  stamps.  He  discovered  that  ministry 
is  greater  than  preaching.  Our  friend,  Dr.  Selecman, 
found  the  same  thing.  He  said  there  was  precious 
little  chance  for  preaching,  but  a  big  opportunity  for 
service ;  and  he,  for  example,  spent  three  whole  days 
at  the  dictaphone,  getting  off  some  of  the  letters  to 
the  sweethearts  and  relatives  of  the  soldier  boys  re- 
quested of  him.  Our  other  good  friend,  Dr.  Free- 
man, is  spoken  of  as  "  the  best  loved  man  in  France  " ; 
and  why  ?  Would  you  know  the  secret  ?  Here  it  is. 
I  asked  him  what  he  did  over  there,  and  he  said; 


THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE       66 

"  Better  ask  me  what  I  didn't  do.  If  there  is  any- 
thing I  did  not  do,  I  don't  know  what  it  is."  I  was 
told  by  another  that  if  there  was  any  task  too  mean 
or  hard  for  any  one  else,  they  gave  it  to  Freeman, 
and  he  did  it. 

What  is  all  this  that  I  have  been  saying,  brethren, 
but  a  commentary  on  the  new  idea  of  service  which 
is  taking  possession  of  the  world?  The  magnificent 
paradoxes  of  Jesus  are  not  poetry  after  all,  but  com- 
mon sense.  A  man  has  only  what  he  gives  away, 
and  the  harder  he  works  the  happier  he  is.  May  God 
hasten  the  day  when  this  policy  of  unselfish  service 
shall  dominate  the  home,  the  store,  the  city,  the  state, 
the  nation,  and  the  world!  When  that  time  comes, 
we  shall  be  answering  our  Lord's  Prayer:  "  Thy  king- 
dom come.  Thy  will  be  done,  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven." 

IV.    Another  Great  Word  is  Faith. 

Many  reports  from  the  battle  front  have  told  of 
the  singing  of  birds  amid  the  roar  of  strife.  It  is 
said  that  when  the  great  guns  were  roaring  and  the 
big  shells  bursting,  the  birds  could  be  heard  filling 
in  the  interim  between  detonations  with  their  melody. 
Now,  why  did  they  sing?  Wasn't  it  because  there, 
up  above  the  smoke  where  the  air  was  clear,  they 
could  see  the  sunshine  and  could  know  that  God  still 
lives,  and  would  still  take  care  of  them  ?  Well,  then, 
I  wonder  if  it  is  not  possible  for  the  Christian  to  rise 
on  wings  of  faith  above  the  storm  and  see  God  above 
the  battle,  and  hold  on  to  Him.  "  If,  as  some  one 
has  said,  "  life  is  a  tragedy  to  those  who  think,  and 


66       THE  STAES  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE 

a  comedy  to  those  who  feel,  it  is  a  victory  to  those 
who  beheve."  "  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh 
the  world,  even  our  faith."  Faith  can  "  trace  the 
rainbow  through  the  rain,  and  feel  the  promise  is  not 
vain,  that  morn  shall  tearless  be."  One  of  the  most 
suggestive  Gospel  incidents  for  the  Christian  in  these 
reconstruction  times  is  our  Lord's  conversation  with 
Peter,  in  which  He  says :  "  Satan  hath  desired  thee, 
that  he  might  sift  thee  as  wheat.  But  I  have  prayed 
for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not;  and  when  thou  art 
converted,  strengthen  the  brethren."  Here  are  three 
things  which  our  Lord  tells  Peter,  and  which  He  is 
certainly  telling  His  Church  to-day.  The  first  is  this : 
"  These  are  sifting  times,  and  many  are  being  led  to 
believe  that  God  has  gone  to  sleep,  or  else  has  re- 
signed His  throne.  Many  are  being  carried  away 
from  their  old  moorings."  The  second  thing  Jesus 
says  to  Peter  is,  "  But  your  faith  must  not  fail,  and 
I  am  praying  for  you."  If  our  faith  cannot  stand  the 
test  it  will  be  discounted.  The  world  will  say  to 
us :  "  Oh,  don't  talk  to  me  about  a  clear-day  religion. 
Anybody  can  believe  in  God  on  a  perfect  day  in  June, 
when  the  sky  is  clear  and  the  roses  bloom.  What  we 
want  is  a  faith  that  will  weather  the  winds  of  No- 
vember and  the  snowy  blasts  of  December."  Then 
the  third  thing  Jesus  tells  Peter  is,  "  When  you  are 
once  sure  of  yourself,  go  out  and  strengthen  others." 
So,  my  Christian  friends,  your  supreme  task  is  not 
merely  to  be  sure  of  God  yourself,  but  to  be  an  evan- 
gelist of  conviction  and  certainty  to  somebody  else 
whose  feet  are  slipping  from  the  rock,  the  Rock  of 
Ages. 

Some  poet  has  pictured  a  number  of  shipwrecked 


THE  STARS  BEYOND  THE  SMOKE       57 

pilgrims  who  had  found  shelter  on  a  little  beach, 
gathered  at  nightfall,  and  discussing  the  losses  their 
lives  had  known.  One  bewailed  the  friends  of  early 
days.  Another,  the  money  which  had  once  been  his. 
Another,  the  plans  which  had  gone  all  awry.  And  so 
they  went  on,  one  by  one. 

"But  when  their  tales  were  done,  there  stood  among  them 
one, 

A  stranger,  seeming  from  all  sorrow  free; 
'  Sad  losses  ye  have  met,  but  mine  are  sadder  yet : 

For  the  believing  heart  has  gone  from  me.'  " 

Oh,  Church  of  God!  Keep  your  lamps  burning 
to-day.  Don't  let  the  world  have  to  fight  its  way 
home  in  the  dark.  "  If  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be 
darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness ! "  Take  the 
aeroplane  of  trust,  and  soar  above  the  smoke,  and  tell 
us  what  you  see  up  there ;  and  then  come  down  to  us 
in  the  trenches  and  behind  the  lines,  and  bring  us  a 
wireless  from  heaven  which  will  help  us  "  carry  on." 
Catch  some  of  the  calm  of  heaven,  and  bring  it  down 
to  our  fevered  pillows.  Heaven's  good  Book  says 
that  if  He  giveth  peace,  no  one  can  make  trouble. 
So,  Church  of  God,  while  our  enemies  multiply  war 
without,  do  thou  multiply  peace  within.  Then  shall 
our  burdened  brothers  and  sisters  be  able  to  say : 

"  We  bless  Thee  for  Thy  peace,  O  God, 
Deep  as  the  unfathomed  sea, 
Which  falls  like  sunshine  on  the  road 
Of  those  who  trust  in  Thee. 

"That  peace  which  suffers  and  is  strong, 
Trusts  where  it  cannot  see. 
Deems  not  the  trial-way  too  long. 
But  leaves  the  end  with  Thee," 


IV 

THE  MINISTRY  FOR  THE  CHURCH  OF 
TO-DAY 

"  Who  am  I,  O  Lord  God,  that  thou  hast  brought  me 
hitherto?" — 2  Samuei,  7:  18. 

WHAT  do  you  think  of  a  man  who  would 
sit  down  in  the  presence  of  God?  That 
is  what  David  did  in  the  story  before  us. 
He  was  simply  overwhelmed.  Nathan  had  just  told 
him  that  his  dynasty  was  assured  of  a  long  reign,  and 
his  house  should  be  established  forever.  And  the 
king  is  so  filled  with  emotion  that  he  does  a  thing 
which  is  nowhere  else  in  Scripture  said  to  have  been 
done.  He  went  in  and  sat  down  before  the  Lord, 
and  talked  over  his  problem.  He  feels  his  utter  un- 
worthiness  of  the  great  time  in  which  he  lives.  And 
so  he  passionately  exclaims,  "  Who  am  I,  O  Lord 
God,  and  what  is  my  house,  that  thou  hast  brought 
me  hitherto?  And  is  this  the  manner  of  man,  O 
Lord  God?  For  thou,  Lord  God,  knowest  thy  serv- 
ant." 

It  seems  to  me,  my  brethren,  that  you  and  I,  min- 
isters of  Jesus  Christ,  may  well  make  these  words  our 
own,  as  we  find  ourselves  in  the  position  of  moral 
leadership  in  the  days  of  rebuilding.    Are  we  big 

58 


THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  59 

enough  men  for  our  job  ?  The  times  demand  giants, 
and  we  dare  not  be  pygmies.  Are  we  able  to  trans- 
late the  mind  of  the  Eternal  into  the  language  of  the 
people  ?  Can  they  look  up  to  us,  or  will  they  pass  us 
by?  Dr.  Chapman  says  these  are  the  greatest  days 
for  preaching  the  world  has  ever  known ;  and  are  we 
measuring  up  to  our  opportunity?  The  Captain  of 
our  Salvation  has  placed  us  on  the  moral  firing  line; 
and  shall  we  turn  and  run  ?  The  marching  orders  are 
clear :  "  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they 
go  forward."  And  shall  we  reply,  "  I  pray  thee,  have 
me  excused  "  ?  God  calls  for  volunteers  to  carry  the 
war  into  the  enemy's  country;  and  must  we  answer, 
"  Here  am  I ;  send  somebody  else  "  ?  No,  we  dare 
not  be  clerical  slackers.  As  somebody  has  said,  "  The 
exemption  of  the  clergy  from  military  service  was 
either  an  insult  or  a  challenge."  It  was  an  insult  if 
it  implied  that  they  were  weaklings.  But  it  was  a 
challenge  if  it  meant  that  the  work  of  the  ministry 
was  so  important  that  it  was  an  essential.  Let  us 
accept  the  mighty  challenge,  and  resolve  from  this 
good  hour  that  we  shall  stretch  ourselves  up  to  the 
dimensions  of  our  opportunity :  so  that  in  the  end  we 
may  be  able  to  say,  as  Paul  said  to  the  Romans,  "  I 
have  fully  preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 

A  great  deal  of  criticism  has  been  heaped  upon  the 
ministry  because,  forsooth,  they  have  been  found 
wanting  in  this  hour  of  need.  One  clergyman  writes 
an  article  on  "  Peter  sitting  by  the  fire  warming  him- 
self," and  gives  the  impression  that  the  clergy^  of  the 
country  are  lazy  old  men,  equipped  with  dressing- 
gown  and  a  pair  of  easy  slippers,  lounging  in  a  rock- 


60  THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY 

ing-chair  before  a  cozy  fire.  Will  any  one  who  knows 
the  facts  dare  believe  this  indictment  to  be  true?  A 
very  good  reply  has  been  made  to  his  article  on  the 
subject,  "  Peter  Warmed  Up,"  in  which  it  is  pointed 
out  that  there  was  no  crime  in  Peter's  warming  him- 
self, but  the  question  is,  what  he  did  after  he  got 
warm.  This  reminds  us  of  Thoreau,  who  said:  "It 
is  not  enough  that  I  collect  sticks  and  make  myself  a 
blaze.  The  point  is,  what  I  did  after  I  got  warm." 
Yes,  by  all  means  let  the  prophets  of  the  Lord  get 
warmed  up — God  help  the  ecclesiastical  refriger- 
ators— and  then  let  them  go  out  and  pass  on  their 
new-found  spiritual  temperature  to  others.  Bishop 
McDowell  tells  of  an  eminent  scholar  of  England  who 
a  few  years  ago  became  for  the  first  time  in  his  life 
acutely  conscious  of  darkest  England  and  its  needs. 
All  his  life  had  been  devoted  to  learning  and  teach- 
ing, and  he  had  not  realized  how  the  other  half  lived. 
When  he  finally  saw  with  his  own  eyes  human  need 
and  poverty  and  distress  on  a  large  scale,  he  was  over- 
whelmed. All  his  scales  of  values  were  suddenly 
upset,  and  the  things  he  had  striven  for  seemed  as 
naught.  In  the  consciousness  of  this  new  discovery 
he  cried  aloud :  "  Greek  must  go,  and  scholarship 
must  go,  but  men  must  not  go ;  they  must  be  saved." 
So,  my  brethren,  in  these  days  of  reconstruction  and 
earthquake,  there  are  certain  things  which  must  go, 
and  certain  things  which  must  abide.  It  Is  with  the 
idea  of  Indicating  to  you  some  of  the  things  which 
must  not  be  thrown  overboard  that  I  venture  to 
speak  to  you  of  some  of  the  essential  notes  of  the 
ministry  of  the  days  to  come. 


THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  61 

/.     A  Ministry  of  Comfort. 

I  had  a  rich  experience  one  day  in  October  of  1918. 
It  was  in  connection  with  the  first  gold  star  to  come 
to  our  flag  of  125.  Word  came  to  me  that  the  dear 
brave  mother  who  had  told  me  her  Paul  was  wounded 
a  few  days  before  had  received  a  wire  from  the  Lieu- 
tenant saying  he  was  gone.  So  I  went  over  to  the 
house.  The  mother  met  me,  brave  as  a  lion.  She 
showed  me  first  the  wire  that  came  telling  of  Paul's 
being  wounded,  from  him  himself.  Down  in  the 
corner  was  penciled  her  reply :  "  Proud  of  you. 
Not  worrying  at  this  end.  Love.  Mother."  Then 
she  showed  me  the  second  wire,  which  spoke  of  the 
supreme  sacrifice.  And  then,  what  do  you  think? 
She  smiled  through  her  tears,  and  told  me  that  the 
thing  on  which  she  had  been  living  during  the  days 
of  uncertainty  and  anxiety  was  my  sermon  of  the 
Sunday  before.  I  had  preached  on  "  Patient  En- 
thusiasm " :  "  Let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that 
is  set  before  us :  "  and  I  spoke  of  the  endurance  which 
comes  from  looking  unto  Jesus.  I  could  see  she  had 
it  all  by  heart.  How  glad  I  was  that  I  had  preached 
on  that  theme  that  day  rather  than  on  the  sins  of  the 
Amalekites  or  the  Imprecatory  Psalms !  There  were 
many  other  handclasps  beside  hers  at  the  close  of  that 
sermon;  and  I  remember  one  man  who  had  been 
described  to  me  as  a  Silurian,  who  broke  into  tears 
telling  me  he  was  going  through  deep  waters,  thank- 
ing me  for  the  lift. 

Well,  my  brethren,  these  things  are  not  new  to 
you.  Wasn't  it  Alexander  MacLaren  who  said  that 
if  he  had  his  ministry  to  go  over,  he  would  make  one 


62  THE  MIMSTRY  OF  TO-DAY 

important  change:  he  would  preach  more  fully  than 
he  had  a  Gospel  of  Comfort  ?  Do  you  remember  what 
Lavisse,  the  greatest  historian  of  France  to-day,  said 
when  Renan's  "  Life  of  Jesus  "  was  published?  "  It 
did  not  interest  me,"  he  said,  "  and  one  reason  was 
that  the  Christ  of  Renan  was  not  a  Christ  who  had 
comforted  men."  He  conceived  the  possibility  of  an- 
other hfe  of  Jesus  which  should  describe  the  Christ 
who  had  strengthened  and  cheered  men's  hearts  in 
every  clime  and  nation  of  the  world.  These  are  the 
sentiments,  by  the  way,  of  one  of  the  Freethinkers  of 
France. 

God  pity  us  if  we  fail  in  this  hour.  People  come 
to  our  pulpit  stairs  and  look  piteously  up  and  say, 
"  What  have  you  got  for  a  broken  heart,  O  man  of 
God  ?  Is  there  no  balm  of  Gilead,  is  there  no  physi- 
cian there?  If  you  have  anything  for  us,  in  God's 
name  give  it  to  us.  Do  not  tantalize  our  misery  by 
false  pretense."  What  can  we  say  to  that  appeal? 
We  have  a  Christ  who  is  adequate  for  the  hour. 
The  question  is,  has  Christ  a  channel  in  you  and 
me  which  is  adequate  for  Him?  Give  your  peo- 
ple the  Comfort  Chapter,  the  Fourteenth  of  John, 
as  an  antidote  for  anxiety.  Tell  them  that  the 
word  "  comfortless  "  means  orphaned.  "  I  will  not 
leave  you  orphaned."  Make  them  believe  that  the 
world  they  are  living  in  is  not  an  orphan  asylum, 
but  a  Christian  home.  Give  them  the  paregoric  of 
the  Gospel.  Jean  Valjean  said  he  wanted  to  live 
"where  people  say  Good  Morning  to  one  another." 
And  to-day  the  broken-hearted  want  to  live  where 
their  minister  can  say  to  them  not  merely  "  Good- 


THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  63 

morning,"  but  as  the  boys  used  to  say  in  the  trenches, 
"  Cheerio :  "  "  Be  of  good  cheer."  "  Let  not  your 
hearts  be  troubled."  "  I  have  overcome  the  world." 
"  Come  unto  me." 

How  close  this  ministry  of  comfort  will  draw  us  to 
our  people  and  to  our  God !  I  like  the  spirit  of  that 
man  who  wrote  when  he  was  leaving  one  parish  for 
another :  "  I  find  all  this  immensely  costly  in  wrenched 
heart-strings.  Rare  are  the  homes  in  which  I  have 
not  stood  bowed  in  grief  with  the  folks.  Few  are 
they,  young  or  old,  with  whom  I  have  not  sat  in 
sacredly  close  council  over  serious  problems,  pains, 
and  joys.  .  .  .  Only  God  is  able  to  comprehend 
the  vastness  of  that  for  which  the  ministry  stands  in 
its  manhood  and  message  as  the  saving  influence  in 
modem  life." 


//.     A  Ministry  of  Conviction. 

We  ought  to  be  dead  certain  about  a  few  things 
when  the  boys  come  home.  Some  preachers  are  dead 
(in  earnest),  and  others  are  dead-in-earnest.  It 
makes  all  the  difference  where  you  put  the  pause. 
We  must  not  meet  the  returning  soldiers  with  an 
"  if."  They  don't  want  to  hear  our  doubts.  They 
have  been  up  against  stern  realities  over  there — such 
real  things  as  pain  and  death  and  immortality.  They 
won't  want  a  religion  with  strings  tied  to  it  when 
they  come  back.  They  will  want  to  hear  a  man  who 
has  the  courage  born  of  conviction.  They  will  de- 
mand what  they  call  the  "  real  thing."  Dr.  Halsey, 
of  the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Board,  tells  of  an  inci- 


64  THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY 

dent  of  the  war  in  which  groups  of  mutinous  soldiers 
seized  women  and  girls  and  bore  them  off  to  their 
villages  to  lives  worse  than  slavery.  In  one  case 
after  a  number  of  women  had  been  seized,  the  Cap- 
tain cried  out:  "Are  any  of  you  Christians?  If  so, 
stand  out  and  we  will  shoot  you,  that  we  may  have 
no  trouble  with  the  missionary."  One  brave  young 
girl  stood  out  from  the  line  and  said,  "I  am  a 
Christian."  "  Go  back,"  said  her  captor,  "  you  are 
the  real  thing."  And  she  was.  Our  soldier  boys 
have  risked  their  lives  and  jeopardized  themselves 
unto  death  for  America.  They  will  expect  a  minis- 
try which  will  risk  itself  to  the  death  for  Jesus 
Christ.  If  we  are  not  prepared  to  adventure  all  for 
Him,  we  had  better  get  out  of  the  job. 

My  point  is  that  we  ought  to  be  definitely  certain 
about  a  few  essential  things,  and  minimize  the  rest. 
We  must  have  a  creed,  but  let  it  be  as  simple  as 
possible.  One  of  the  fallacies  which  the  war  has 
exploded  is  the  old  axiom  that  "  It  makes  no  differ- 
ence what  a  man  believes;  only  his  actions  count." 
The  war  has  shown  that  it  makes  all  the  difference  in 
the  world  what  a  man  believes,  for  a  real  man  will 
act  out  what  he  thinks  in.  Creed  and  conduct  are 
closely  related.  The  New  York  Peace  Society  some- 
time ago  published  "  The  Creed  of  the  Huns "  in 
words  quoted  entirely  from  the  Germans  themselves, 
even  the  title.  Germany  had  a  creed.  She  had  certain 
convictions  which  she  cherished  all  through  the  years. 
And  the  most  flagrant  acts  of  the  war  were  the  cold 
working  out  of  creed  into  conduct,  of  belief  into 
action.     If  the  Huns  were  willing  to  die  for  their 


THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  65 

convictions,  ought  not  the  ministry  to  be  willing  to 
live  for  theirs  ? 

I  love  to  hear  men  preach  who  seem  to  be  standing 
on  the  solid  rock  of  a  few  great  truths.  It  is  much 
more  inspiring  to  hear  a  man  say  "  I  know  whom  I 
have  believed,"  than  to  hear  him  say,  "  I  have  a 
suspicion  that  critical  investigation  will  yet  authenti- 
cate the  historicity  of  Jesus  Christ."  It  is  surely  more 
heartening  to  hear  a  sermon  on  the  text,  "  The  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  the  Church,"  than  to 
listen  to  a  discourse  on  "  Will  there  be  any  Churches 
ten  years  from  now  ?  "  I  love  to  see  a  man  standing 
four-square  to  all  the  winds  that  blow,  even  if  I 
cannot  stand  by  his  side.  I  can  well  appreciate  the 
attitude  of  Hume,  the  great  skeptic,  with  regard  to 
Whitfield.  Hume,  on  his  way  to  hear  Whitfield 
preach,  was  stopped  by  a  friend  on  the  street.  Learn- 
ing where  Hume  was  going,  the  friend  naturally 
expressed  great  surprise,  and  exclaimed :  "  Why  do 
you  go  to  hear  him?  You  do  not  believe  what  he 
preaches."  The  answer  of  the  skeptic  was  signifi- 
cant :  "  No,  but  he  does,  and  that  is  the  reason  I  like 
to  hear  him."  So  I  suggest,  my  brethren,  that  we 
have  an  intellectual  house-cleaning,  and  that  we  take 
stock  of  ourselves  and  our  beliefs,  so  that  we  can 
meet  the  years  of  Reconstruction  unafraid  and  say: 
"  Here  are  the  things  that  have  come  through  the 
fire.  They  still  hold.  You  have  read  them  by  the 
watch-fires  of  the  camps  in  the  glare  of  the  war 
light,  and  I  have  read  them  in  the  headlines  of  the 
extras  and  in  the  good  old  Book.  Come,  let  us  get 
back  to  where  we  believe  something,  and  where  we 


66  THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY 

believe  it  terribly — terribly  enough  to  live  for  it, 
terribly  enough  to  die  for  it  if  need  be." 

///.     A  Ministry  of  Cooperation. 

Two  churches  in  the  city  of  Chicago  united  to  form 
one  congregation  about  the  same  time  that  the  mili- 
tary authorities  decided  to  brigade  our  American  sol- 
diers alongside  the  English  and  French  soldiers  of 
more  experience.  The  subject  of  the  opening  sermon 
in  the  new  combined  church  was,  "  Brigaded  To- 
gether." Wisely  did  the  minister  apply  the  philos- 
ophy of  the  trenches  to  the  life  of  the  churches. 

Brethren,  the  moral  is  clear.  One  of  the  biggest 
by-products  of  the  war  is  to  be  along  the  line  of 
ecclesiastical  cooperation.  Witness  one  or  two  inci- 
dents by  way  of  illustration.  When  the  new  colours 
of  the  304th  Field  Artillery  were  dedicated  at  Camp 
Upton,  they  were  blessed  by  a  Bishop  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church,  a  Vicar  General  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  a  Rabbi  of  the  Jewish 
Church.  The  New  York  Evening  Mail  was  moved 
to  comment  upon  this  singular  event,  which  it  called 
"  the  outward  symbol  of  an  important  fact  in  our 
new  religious  life."  Or,  take  the  situation  disclosed 
in  the  first  Training  School  for  Chaplains  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  where  seventy  preachers  lived  together  in 
peace  and  harmony  for  five  weeks  without  breaking 
one  another's  heads  or  hearts  with  ecclesiastical  de- 
bates. There  were  nineteen  Methodists,  thirteen  Bap- 
tists, twelve  Roman  Catholics,  eight  Presbyterians, 
four  Congregationallsts,  four  Episcopalians,  and  on 
through  the  list  of  practically  all  the  denominations. 


THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  67 

even  to  the  Salvation  Army.  One  Presbyterian  min- 
ister slept  for  the  five  weeks  with  an  Irish  Catholic 
on  one  side  of  him  and  a  Methodist  on  the  other,  and 
yet  did  not  engage  in  a  single  discussion  of  apostolic 
succession  or  the  freedom  of  the  will.  The  same 
attitude  was  still  further  emphasized  at  the  Front. 
A  Baptist  minister  played  the  organ  at  midnight 
mass  for  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  and  loaned  his 
room  for  the  hearing  of  confessions.  A  young  man 
who  returned  to  this  country  from  driving  an  ambu- 
lance said  that  the  man  who  brought  his  mail  every 
morning  had  been  a  chauffeur  in  New  York,  while  the 
man  next  to  him  was  a  professor  in  the  University  of 
Chicago.  On  the  other  side  his  neighbours  were  a 
Russian  count  who  had  been  living  in  America,  and  a 
bright  lad  from  a  New  England  high  school.  Such 
instances  as  these  could  of  course  be  multiplied  in- 
definitely. They  remind  us  of  those  days  of  ancient 
Rome  of  which  the  poet  wrote : 

"  Then  none  was  for  a  party ; 
Then  all  were  for  the  State ; 
Then  the  great  man  helped  the  poor, 
And  the  poor  man  loved  the  great." 

Will  the  men  who  have  returned  from  scenes  like 
these  wax  enthusiastic  over  the  "  Five  Points  of  Cal- 
vinism," or  the  "  Thirty-nine  Articles  "  ?  I  trow  not. 
They  will  not  be  interested  in  our  divisions,  but  in  our 
relations.  They  have  seen  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  a 
picture  of  the  Christian  Church  lifted  above  Its  petty 
divisions  and  ministering  in  Christ's  name.  When 
the  hour  of  stress  came,  here  stood  the  denomina- 
tions, riven  asunder,  pitifully  looking  at  one  another 


68  THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY 

and  wondering  what  to  do.  The  Government  could 
not  recognize  any  one  at  the  expense  of  the  others, 
but  the  Y  was  ready  in  the  name  of  an  undenomina- 
tional Christ  to  step  in  and  do  the  job;  and  so  the 
Churches  said :  "  Go  ahead  and  represent  us,  and  we 
will  all  unite  to  give  you  the  necessary  money  to  do 
the  work."  And  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  will  never  hereafter 
have  to  beg  for  money  for  any  enterprise,  for  it  has 
laid  the  world  everlastingly  imder  obligation  to  it  for 
its  willing  service.  Would  God  the  Churches  had 
been  organized  to  place  themselves  on  the  map  of  the 
world's  workers! 

But  it  is  never  too  late  to  mend.  Now  is  the  time 
for  the  new  viewpoint.  Away  out  in  China  ten 
denominations  have  coalesced  into  one,  because  these 
Chinese  brethren  were  challenged  to  the  act  by  the 
immensity  of  their  task  and  the  demand  for  Christian 
efficiency.  He  was  wise  who  said  that  if  church 
unity  fever  came,  it  would  move  from  the  circumfer- 
ence to  the  center.  That  is  precisely  what  it  is  doing. 
First  the  missionaries  were  its  heralds,  and  then  the 
trenches  were.  From  these  two  points  on  the  far- 
flung  circumference,  the  idea  is  driving  home.  God 
grant  that  the  Hindenberg  line  of  denominationalism 
may  fall  before  the  Allied  advance  of  Christ's  brother 
men  who  are  trying  to  answer  His  prayer  that  we  all 
may  be  one,  that  the  world  may  believe  that  God  sent 
Him !  It  is  related  that  out  in  India  they  were  con- 
sidering the  preparation  of  a  catechism  to  be  used  by 
the  missionaries.  One  Indian  Episcopal  Bishop  is 
said  to  have  suggested  a  union  catechism  which  would 
have  in  the  body  of  the  book  the  points  on  which  they 


TE[E  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  69 

all  agreed,  and  in  the  appendix  the  points  of  dif- 
ference. One  delegate  wisely  remonstrated  that  he 
would  accept  that  suggestion,  provided  that  before 
the  catechism  was  printed  an  operation  for  appendi- 
citis should  be  performed  on  it,  and  the  appendix  cut 
out  and  the  body  allowed  to  remain.  The  world  war 
was  an  awful  surgeon,  but  it  cut  out  many  theo- 
logical and  ecclesiastical  appendices.  Let  us  hope 
the  patient  may  speedily  recover,  and  be  stronger  and 
better  than  ever. 

IV.     A  Ministry  of  Moral  Leadership. 

I  crave  for  the  ministry  the  distinction  of  being  the 
leaders  of  thought  and  achievement  in  every  great 
moral  issue  which  presents  itself  to  the  minds  of  the 
American  people.  Scientists  are  naturally  looked  to 
by  the  people  to  decide  some  debated  scientific  ques- 
tion. Economists  are  supposed  to  be  supreme  in  the 
realm  of  Economics,  and  so  on  throughout  the  realm 
of  human  interest.  But  the  ministry  are  reputed  to 
be  the  guardians  of  the  public  morals,  and  thus  the 
moral  leaders  of  the  community.  The  State  ought 
to  be  given  to  understand  that,  while  the  Church  does 
not  propose  to  dabble  in  politics,  yet  we  are  on  the 
lookout  for  the  moral  bearing  of  every  great  issue, 
and  we  will  not  be  laughed  out  of  court  in  the  future, 
nor  be  bribed  into  silence,  nor  be  damned  into  in- 
significance. 

The  call  is  for  pioneers,  moral  captains,  who  will 
lead  on  in  advance  of  the  troops.  Frederick  Edwin 
Smith,  Attorney-General  of  Great  Britain,  after 
pointing  out   some   difficulties   in   the  path   of   the 


70  THE  MINISTRY  OF  TO-DAY 

League  of  Nations  idea,  has  said :  "  It  is  worth  while 
trying  for  an  ideal.  It  is  better  to  hitch  your  wagon 
to  a  star  than  to  a  machine  gun."  That  is  the  issue. 
Somebody  must  go  ahead  and  be  laughed  at.  Who 
better  than  the  ministers  ?  If  they  say  we  are  trying 
to  light  the  way  to  Utopia,  tell  them  in  the  words  of 
a  modern  statesman :  "  Well,  you  know  what  war  is ; 
it  is  hell;  and  Utopia  is  preferable  to  hell."  If  you 
shrink  from  the  lonely  task  of  leadership,  my  brother, 
remember  that  you  are  the  lineal  descendant  of  the 
Old  Testament  prophet,  and  that  the  prophet  has  been 
described  as  the  man  who  wields  a  sword  in  one  hand 
and  holds  a  door  open  with  the  other,  fighting  off  the 
enemy  until  a  few  followers  have  passed  into  the 
opening  beyond  the  door.  Remember  that  you  are 
called  to  be  a  saint,  and  that  the  saint  is  the  man  who 
is  cannonaded  this  side  of  death,  and  canonized  the 
other  side  of  it.  Hence,  don't  be  surprised  at  the 
shells. 

But  what  a  challenge  it  Is,  men !  The  old  ecclesiast 
described  himself  in  this  way :  "  I,  the  preacher,  was 
king  over  Israel  in  Jerusalem ; "  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 
word  king  Is  connected  with  the  root  konnen.  He  is 
the  man  who  can.  Can  we?  That  is  the  question. 
Can  we  lead,  or  must  we  follow  ?  Can  we  originate, 
or  must  we  Imitate  ?  Who  of  us  was  brave  enough 
to  preach  on  the  League  of  Nations  until  It  became 
popular  ?  As  Dr.  Faunce  says :  "  Fifty  years  ago 
men  whispered  It  in  peace  conferences,  and  were 
Ignored  as  harmless  visionaries.  Twenty  years  ago 
diplomats  and  statesmen  began  to  look  into  the  matter 
with  languid  interest.    Now  we  are  swept  toward 


THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  71 

some  such  organization  by  irresistible  tides."  Yes, 
it  is  coming  now,  but  were  we  bold  enough  to  preach 
it  when  it  was  not  popular?  There  are  many  other 
great  questions  to-day  and  somebody  has  got  to  be 
bold  enough  to  dare  stand  in  his  pulpit  and  speak  his 
mind,  even  if  the  Church  is  full  of  Jennie  Goddesses 
armed  with  camp  stools  ready  to  throw  at  him.  Are 
we  afraid  of  camp  stools  and  cabbages  and  criticism  ? 
If  so,  better  quietly  walk  out  the  back  door  and  go  to 
selling  life  insurance.  It  is  better  to  be  a  success  as 
a  camp  follower  than  to  be  a  failure  as  a  captain. 
Captains  of  thought  are  needed,  Generals  of  public 
opinion,  Marshals  of  the  International  Mind.  These 
are  to  be  the  saviours  of  society — but  saviours  are 
usually  crucified. 

The  war  has  shown  that  humanity  is  willing  to  be 
led  to  heights  of  great  enthusiasm  and  splendid  sacri- 
fice when  some  big  program  is  flung  at  it,  great 
enough  to  demand  its  attention.  Men  have  bought 
bonds  who  never  have  thought  of  investing  their 
money  at  four  per  cent.  Women  have  given  days  and 
nights  to  knitting  sweaters  and  making  Red  Cross 
bandages  who  were  never  known  to  think  of  anything 
beyond  the  card-table  before.  Business  men  not  iden- 
tified with  any  church  have  poured  checks  into  the 
cofTers  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  kindred  organizations. 
Yes,  and  splendid  millions  of  men,  with  their  hearts 
set  on  great  careers,  with  everything  to  live  for,  have 
found  something  bigger  still  to  die  for.  Oh,  no! 
Humanity  is  not  totally  depraved.  There  are  still  in 
the  human  race  some  hints  of  that  splendid  stuff  that 
the  poet  had  in  mind  when  he  wrote : 


72  THE  MIinSTRY  OF  TO-DAY 

"  So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust, 
So  near  is  God  to  man, 
When  Duty  whispers,  '  Lo,  thou  must,* 
The  youth  rephes,  '  I  can.'  " 

Our  problem,  brethren,  is  to  generate  the  same 
enthusiasm  for  the  Kingdom  of  God,  with  all  it  im- 
plies, that  the  patriotic  spell-binder  temporarily  gen- 
erates in  the  hearts  of  his  audience — an  enthusiasm 
which  shall  give  our  returning  heroes  the  moral 
equivalent  of  war,  and  shall  convince  them  that  the 
Church  as  well  as  the  State  is  worth  living  for,  and 
if  need  be,  worth  dying  for.' 

I  know  that  many  will  tell  us  that  this  pioneering 
is  no  business  of  ours.  They  will  tell  us  to  stick  to  our 
last,  and  to  "  preach  the  old  Gospel,"  by  which  they 
mean  a  refrigerating  gospel  rather  than  an  invigorat- 
ing gospel.  But  that  is  because  they  do  not  see  the 
vision  we  see.  We  can  only  "  follow  the  gleam," 
and  resolve  to  be  "  obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision." 
If  we  do,  we  shall  capture  the  leaders  of  the  coming 
years.  If  we  do  not,  they  will  outdistance  us,  and 
we  shall  find  ourselves  in  the  rear  rather  than  in  the 
van  of  public  opinion.  God  grant  that  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson's  words  may  never  be  written  either  of  us, 
or  of  any  of  our  returned  and  relapsed  heroes : 

"  The  frozen  peaks  he  once  explored, 
But  now  he's  dead,  and  by  the  board ; 
How  better  far  at  home  to  have  stayed, 
Attended  by  the  parlour  maid ! " 

V.     A  Ministry  of  Illumination. 
A  clergyman  who  was  leaving  for  Camp  Kearny 
for  a  series  of  addresses  to  the  men  advised  with  a 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  TO-DAY  73 

brother  minister  who  had  been  there  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  subjects  he  ought  to  discuss.  The  reply  in 
substance  was :  "  Tell  the  boys  what  we  are  fighting 
for  and  against.  They  are  very  vague  about  it  all." 
Since  that  time  this  idea  of  illumination  and  educa- 
tion has  found  systematic  expression.  On  a  larger 
scale,  my  brothers,  this  must  be  done  by  the  pulpits 
now.  Many  things  are  clearer  in  the  retrospect  than 
in  the  prospect.  The  afterglow  lights  up  the  dim 
places ;  "  When  they  were  escaped,  then  they  knew 
that  the  island  was  called  Melita."  This  mother  who 
loaned  her  boy  to  the  Government,  and  whose  loan 
turned  into  a  gift,  will  want  to  be  mighty  sure  why 
he  did  not  come  back,  and  just  what  he  died  for. 
These  taxes  that  will  have  to  be  paid  for  many  long 
years  yet  may  be  paid  with  a  smile  instead  of  a  frown, 
if  we  can  let  a  little  sunshine  in  on  them.  These 
pages  of  history  that  are  to  be  studied  with  such 
eagerness  by  the  next  generation  may  well  have  a  few 
moral  foot-notes  or  running  comments  by  ourselves, 
for  the  pulpit  as  well  as  the  professor  has  a  right  to 
discuss  a  Christlike  war.  "  Because  the  preacher 
was  wise,  he  still  taught  the  people  knowledge,"  was 
written  by  the  ancient  ecclesiast,  and  it  ought  to  be 
written  also  of  his  modern  successors.  For  example, 
just  to  illustrate  this  ministry  of  illumination,  it  will 
be  easy  for  some  critic  of  the  Church  to  make  capital 
out  of  the  fact  that  the  Church  failed  to  prevent  the 
war  in  some  diatribe  of  the  after  years.  It  will  be  in 
order  for  the  preacher  to  be  able  to  reply  to  this 
critic  that  the  Church  was  not  the  only  institution 
which  failed  in  the  crucial  hour.    The  Church  is  sim- 


74  THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO  DAY 

ply  one  of  the  brothers  of  humiliation,  all  of  whom 
have  failed.  Here  is  Science,  for  example.  Why, 
instead  of  keeping  off  the  war,  she  bent  all  of  her 
energies  to  make  it  the  more  deadly.  The  Church,  at 
least,  did  not  do  that.  Here  is  Diplomacy.  We 
thought  she  had  advanced  so  far  that  her  Hague  Tri- 
bunals would  never  again  permit  war.  But  she  had 
not.  Here  is  Socialism.  She  had  heralded  far  and 
wide  the  warning  that  French  Socialists  and  German 
Socialists  would  never  kill  each  other.  But  they  did. 
We  don't  throw  Science  and  Diplomacy  and  Social- 
ism to  the  wind  because  they  failed.  No,  we  still 
believe  in  Democracy  in  spite  of  the  Russian  excesses, 
and  we  still  believe  in  the  Church  in  spite  of  Protes- 
tant and  other  divisions. 

It  is  necessary  for  somebody  to  take  large  views  of 
the  situation.  Men  have  come  back  from  the  trenches 
who  have  seen  the  war  from  their  little  sector,  but 
knQw  nothing  of  Marshal  Foch's  larger  vision.  Their 
vision  will  need  correction  for  fear  of  moral  astigma- 
tism. Interpreters  of  Scripture  are  arising  on  all 
sides  with  prophecies  of  the  end,  and  every  event  is 
fitted  into  its  appropriate  cubby-hole.  Advocates  of 
municipal  ownership  have  their  arguments,  and  pri- 
vate capital  has  its  say.  Somebody  must  stand  far 
enough  off  from  the  noise  of  the  many  cannon  to  hear 
the  whispers  of  God.  Somebody  must  go  to  Head- 
quarters and  get  the  message  which  is  to  be  passed  on 
to  the  people  busy  down  in  the  trenches  of  Readjust- 
ment.    Who  shall  get  it  and  pass  it  on  if  not  we? 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
ministry  needed  to-day.    What  shall  we  do  as  we 


THE  MINISTEY  OF  TO-DAY  76 

face  them  ?  "  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things,  O 
Lord?"  "Who  are  we,  O  Lord,  that  thou  hast 
brought  us  hitherto  ?  "  Brothers  of  mine,  we  are  not 
sufficient,  but  He  is.  Do  you  remember  that  experi- 
ence of  Moses  when  he  lost  the  chance  of  his  life  to 
become  a  great  orator  ?  God  told  him  what  he  would 
have  to  do,  and  it  scared  him.  "  O  Lord,"  he  said, 
"  I  can't  do  this.  Why,  I  am  a  very  poor  public 
speaker."  And  God  said,  "  You  go  ahead,  Moses, 
and  make  a  try  at  it,  and  I  will  be  with  your  mouth." 
But  he  persisted  in  refusing,  until  God  finally  said: 
"  Very  well,  then ;  I  will  send  Aaron  your  brother 
along ;  I  know  that  he  can  speak."  And  Aaron  made 
Moses  so  much  trouble  (as  assistant  pastors  often 
do)  that  I  think  he  wished  many  times  he  had  fol- 
lowed God's  plan  instead.  Let  us  profit  by  this  ex- 
ample. My  consoling  belief  is  that  God  never  con- 
fronts a  man  with  a  task  without  stretching  his  man 
to  the  dimensions  of  the  task.  He  never  brings  a 
man  into  a  hard  place,  and  then  runs  away  and  leaves 
him  there.  So  we  may  confidently  step  out  into  the 
taxing  demands  of  the  New  Day  ahead,  well  assured 
that  He  who  called  us  into  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  able  to  complete  that  which  He  has 
begun,  to  the  end  that  we  may  finish  our  course  with 
joy,  and  the  ministry  we  have  received  of  the  Lord 
Jesus. 


A  NEW  DECLARATION  OF  INTERDEPEND- 
ENCE 

"For  we  are  members  one  of  another." — Ephesians  4:25. 

IT  is  related  that  when  a  certain  artist  was  deco- 
rating a  church,  Michael  Angelo  entered  and 
glanced  around.  He  saw  that  all  the  figures 
were  too  small.  Thereupon  seizing  a  piece  of  chalk, 
he  stepped  up  to  the  wall  and  drew  a  head  in  proper 
proportion.  Then  he  wrote  the  word  Amplior,  which 
means  larger.  This  is  the  word  I  am  trying  to  write 
to-day  into  the  hearts  of  our  people  as  we  draw  near 
the  time  of  our  annual  patriotic  celebration.  On 
July  4,  1776,  the  Thirteen  Colonies  declared  their  in- 
dependence, but  at  the  same  time,  without  knowing  it, 
they  declared  their  interdependence;  for  at  the  very 
time  they  declared  their  independence  of  the  Mother 
Country  they  also  declared  their  interdependence  on 
one  another.  Franklin  put  in  the  truth  very  well  in 
the  unforgetable  words,  "  We  must  all  hang  together, 
or  else  we  shall  hang  separately." 

Now  it  seems  to  me,  my  friends,  that  this  larger, 
longer,  broader  word  is  the  word  for  the  hour  to-day. 
We  were  a  young  country,  an  infant  among  the  na- 
tions, when  we  set  up  in  business  for  ourselves. 
Now,  it  is  always  characteristic  of  infants  that  they 
are  independent.    They  think  they  own  the  earth,  and 

76 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  77 

it  is  only  by  having  their  hands  slapped  repeatedly 
that  they  begin  to  discover  that  others  have  rights. 
So  for  a  long  time  our  young  country  took  a  position 
of  isolated  dignity.  We  were  told  to  "  avoid  entan- 
gling alliances."  We  kept  to  our  side  of  the  street. 
When  the  patrol  v^agon  ran  down  the  streets  of 
Europe  to  arrest  the  naughty  boys  who  had  been 
fighting,  our  good  mother  called  us  in  and  pulled 
down  the  blinds,  so  they  could  not  arrest  us  for  com- 
plicity in  the  fray.  But  after  a  while  the  fight  was 
carried  into  our  block.  Some  of  our  own  neighbours 
were  hurt,  and  we  felt  we  could  not  stay  up  in  our 
roof-garden  any  longer  gazing  at  the  mountains  and 
the  stars.  And  so  down  from  the  roof-garden  and 
out  through  the  sun-parlour  we  marched  into  the 
street;  and  there  we  mixed  up  in  the  fray,  for  our 
neighbours  were  calling  for  help,  and  we  discovered 
that  we  were  members  one  of  another ;  citizens  of  the 
world.  Once  having  taken  part  in  the  fight,  we  can- 
not go  indoors  again.  We  are  out  here  on  the  street 
to  stay,  because  sympathy  and  altruism  and  helpful- 
ness are  part  of  our  national  make-up. 

You  may  have  heard  the  story  of  the  ship  captain 
who  stood  on  deck  one  night,  gazing  out  into  a  raging 
sea.  Peering  out  over  the  foaming  billows,  he  saw  in 
the  distance  signals  of  distress.  He  called  to  his  men 
to  man  the  boat  and  launch  out  into  the  deep.  Some 
of  the  men  came  back  discouraged  from  the  first  at- 
tempt, and  said  to  him,  "  Captain,  we  will  never  come 
back ;  "  whereupon  the  old  hero's  eyes  flashed  as  he 
said :  "  We  don't  have  to  come  back.  Launch  out 
and  away."    So,  my  hearers,  as  you  look  at  the  stars 


78  A  NEW  DECLAEATION 

on  yonder  Service  Flag,  pray  if  it  be  God's  will  that 
our  brave,  splendid  boys  may  come  back ;  but  remem- 
ber that  they  don't  have  to  come  back,  for  they  have 
gone  to  their  brother's  aid,  and  "  we  are  members 
one  of  another." 

Will  you  stop  with  me  for  a  moment  and  think 
your  way  through  this  thing?  You  will  then  discover 
this  fact  of  interdependence  staring  at  you  from  every 
nook  and  corner.  Run  through  a  single  day  of  your 
busy  life,  for  example.  You  get  up  in  the  morning 
and  telephone  your  office.  Yes,  but  you  are  depend- 
ent on  "  Central "  for  your  connections.  Declare 
your  independence  of  the  telephone  company,  and  see 
where  you  will  land.  Then  you  come  down-stairs 
for  your  morning  paper  lying  on  the  porch.  Yes,  but 
you  are  dependent  on  the  fidelity  of  the  delivery  boy. 
If  he  has  shirked,  it  won't  be  there.  Then  you  go 
into  the  breakfast-room  for  your  morning  meal,  and 
what  a  chain  of  cooperating  agencies  has  been  at 
work  to  prepare  for  you  that  simple  meal !  You  have 
coffee  from  Java,  and  wheat  from  Kansas,  and  syrup 
from  the  corn-fields  of  Louisiana,  and  fruit  from 
Florida  perhaps.  Why,  look  at  the  people  it  took  to 
mine  the  silver  for  your  teaspoon,  and  polish  it,  and 
get  it  ready  for  your  use.  A  small  sized  army  prob- 
ably has  been  at  work  on  your  table-linen,  to  get  it 
ready  for  you  from  the  time  the  flax  was  sown  until 
the  moment  the  maid  spread  the  linen  table-cloth  on 
your  table.  Look  at  what  a  congregation  of  people 
it  took  to  get  you  your  breakfast.  Why,  you  can't 
get  through  one  day  in  modern  life  without  the  co- 
operation of  hundreds  or  thousands.    Don't  you  see 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  79 

clearly  that  we  are  members  one  of  another ;  and  that 
the  only  man  these  days  who  can  issue  a  declaration 
of  independence  is  the  savage  who  kills  and  cooks  his 
own  food,  and  makes  his  own  bed,  and  is  his  own 
chauffeur  and  telephone  operator? 

Emerson  long  ago  saw  the  coming  of  this  fraternal 
day.  He  said  that  the  merchants  ought  to  bring  their 
dollars,  and  the  farmers  their  corn,  and  the  poets 
their  song,  and  the  women  their  sewing,  and  the  la- 
bourers their  willing  hands,  and  the  children  their 
flowers.  The  world  to-day  is  doing  that  very  thing  in 
cosmic  proportions.  A  woman  in  France  discovers 
radium,  and  instantly  the  whole  civilized  world  is 
ablaze  with  excitement,  and  scientists  thousands  of 
miles  from  France  have  to  revise  their  text-books. 
A  man  in  India  discovers  that  plants  are  sensitive 
through  and  through,  and  at  once  a  California  florist 
who  never  saw  India  begins  to  experiment.  A  mis- 
sionary goes  down  into  Africa  and  carries  the  Gospel 
of  the  Cross,  and  at  once  the  price  of  rubber  rises  in 
all  the  markets  of  the  world.  A  petty  Balkan 
quarrel  makes  one  man  kill  another  in  a  little  town 
the  world  had  never  heard  of,  and  the  result  is  a  uni- 
versal war.  The  price  of  my  sandwich  on  Main 
Street,  Los  Angeles,  is  raised  because  a  man  named 
William  Hohenzollern  in  Berlin  was  mad  with  am- 
bition. I  wish  the  Kaiser  would  keep  his  hands  off 
my  sandwich,  but  he  won't,  because  he  and  I  happen 
to  live  on  the  same  planet;  and,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  he  and  I  are  members  one  of  another.  I  am 
not  especially  proud  of  some  of  the  members  of  my 
family,  but  my  text  holds  true  just  the  same.     I  want, 


80  A  NEW  DECLAEATION 

therefore,  to  point  out  for  our  consideration  three 
great  spheres  of  existence  in  which  the  truth  of  the 
text  appears. 

/.  There  is  the  Fact  of  Interdependence  in  Hu- 
man Life. 

Who  was  the  first  heretic  of  history?  Cain.  He 
was  the  first  man  ever  tried  for  heresy,  and  he  was 
judged  and  condemned  by  God  Almighty.  What  was 
his  heresy  ?  Was  it  some  doubt  with  reference  to  the 
character  of  God,  or  the  creation  of  the  world?  Or 
the  partaking  of  the  forbidden  fruit?  No,  it  was 
none  of  these  things.  What  was  it?  You  have  the 
heresy  written  out  in  Genesis  4:9:  "  Am  I  my 
brother's  keeper  ?  "  The  first  heresy  was  the  denial 
of  brotherhood.  It  was  an  anarchistic  declaration  of 
independence.  It  was  cold-blooded  selfishness.  That 
was  the  first  heresy.  It  did  not  relate  to  God,  but  to 
man.  The  individualist  was  the  first  slacker.  Cain 
was  the  first  alien  enemy  on  record.  He  had  but  one 
personal  pronoun  in  his  vocabulary,  and  that  was  the 
first  person,  singular  number — I.  He  was  an  I-spe- 
cialist  of  the  first  rank. 

But  Cain  was  not  the  only  heretic.  Ay,  there  have 
been  many  others.  Another  example  not  so  well 
known  was  Jabez.  Read  his  prayer  as  you  find  it  in 
the  fourth  chapter  of  i  Chronicles.  Here  in  giv- 
ing us  a  mere  list  of  names  the  chronicler  pauses  to 
pay  his  tribute  of  respect  to  this  righteous  man  Jabez, 
and  he  was  an  honourable  man  in  many  respects. 
But  if  you  read  his  prayer  you  will  find  that  he  men- 
tions himself  five  times  in  thirty-three  words.     The 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  81 

mistake  of  Jabez  was  in  forgetting  to  pray  for  others. 
He  seems  to  have  forgotten  that  prayer  was  to  be 
used  as  a  party-Hne,  a  number  of  voices  all  thrown 
into  one  great  Central  at  the  Throne  of  Grace.  He 
insisted  on  individual  service. 

Well,  Jonah  made  the  same  mistake ;  and  I  pick  out 
just  these  three  for  purposes  of  illustration.  Jonah 
forgot  that  he  was  related  to  the  Ninevites,  just  as  the 
German  Kaiser  forgot  that  he  and  his  people  were  re- 
lated to  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  that  therefore  the 
hurt  of  one  injures  all  the  rest.  We  are  members  of 
one  another,  and  if  you  hurt  one  member  6f  an  organ- 
ism all  the  rest  of  the  organism  feels  it.  That  is  what 
Cain,  and  Jabez,  and  Jonah,  and  William  Hohenzol- 
lem  temporarily  forgot.  But  they  all  learned  it  later. 
Stevenson  said  years  ago  that  we  were  all  "  little 
islands  calling  out  to  each  other  across  seas  of  mis- 
understanding." Perhaps  we  used  to  be,  but  now  we 
are  great  cities  connected  by  trunk  lines;  and  if  you 
have  a  wreck  on  one  part  of  a  trunk  line,  all  the  other 
towns  on  the  same  line  suffer;  for  if  the  train  is  late 
at  one  place,  it  is  late  at  all  the  others.  If  you  have  a 
break  in  the  telephone  or  telegraph  wire  at  one  point, 
the  whole  line  is  useless  until  the  break  is  repaired. 
We  are  members  of  one  another,  and  the  sorrow  of 
one  is  the  sorrow  of  all,  and  the  joy  of  one  is  the  joy 
of  all. 

It  is  a  strange  and  sad  fact,  my  hearers,  that  the 
captains  of  industry  seem  to  have  sensed  this  fact  of 
fraternity  and  cooperation  long  before  the  Church  or 
the  State.  For  example,  the  chairman  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  announced  last  year  what 


82  A  NEW  DECLAEATION 

might  be  called  the  Gospel  of  Trade,  when  he  said 
that  he  would  advocate  cooperation  among  all  the 
countries  of  the  world.  Now,  if  cooperation  is  good 
for  nations,  it  is  equally  good  for  individuals.  About 
a  century  and  a  quarter  ago  in  Boston,  a  well-known 
statesman,  and  an  equally  well-known  Doctor  of  Di- 
vinity were  seriously  discussing  the  condition  of  the 
colonies,  each  of  which  was  trying  to  set  itself  up  in 
selfish  independence  of  the  others.  The  result  was 
a  feeble  civic  life  in  all  of  them ;  and  the  preacher  at 
last  broke  out  in  a  sort  of  desperation  and  said: 
"  Well,  I  will  tell  you.  We  must  federate."  He  did 
not  mean  that  they  must  at  once  declare  themselves 
as  the  United  States  of  America,  but  that  they  must 
begin  to  live  as  though  they  were  members  of  one 
another — relatives,  in  other  words.  That  sounds  like 
a  very  commonplace  suggestion  these  days,  but  it  was 
revolutionary  then.  The  Thirteen  Colonies  did  fed- 
erate, and  the  result  is  the  greatest  Union  in  the  world 
to-day. 

Well,  we  are  trying  to  do  the  same  thing  in  the 
Church.  One  of  the  most  thrilling  hours  of  a  recent 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  was 
when  the  fraternal  delegates  from  the  Disciples 
Church  appeared  before  the  Assembly  and  suggested 
that  we,  in  Christ's  name,  ought  to  be  one.  Dr. 
Washington  Gladden,  who  had  advocated  unity  so 
long,  sent  a  special  message  to  the  Assembly  in  which 
he  said  that  he  was  glad  to  have  lived  long  enough 
to  see  the  happenings  that  took  place  that  day.  I  be- 
lieve Jesus  wants  to  get  the  scattered  members  of  His 
great  family  together,   for  He  said  in  His  High- 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  83 

Priestly  prayer,  "  That  they  all  may  be  one,  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me." 

It  seems  to  me  that  cooperation  is  good  business 
sense  also.  I  stood  the  other  day  at  the  bedside  of 
one  of  the  officers  of  my  church.  He  had  been  hit 
by  an  automobile,  and  his  limb  gave  him  excruciating 
pain.  He  sent  for  his  family  physician,  who  is  an 
allopath,  and  he  gave  him  medicine.  My  friend  said 
that  an  osteopath  was  coming  the  next  day  to  see 
what  he  could  do ;  and  I  made  the  remark :  "  Won't 
it  be  a  great  day  for  medicine  when  the  different 
kinds  of  paths — the  allopaths,  and  the  homeopaths, 
and  the  osteopaths,  and  the  cheiropaths,  and  all  the 
others — recognize  and  admit  that  there  is  much  truth 
in  all  of  their  schools,  that  none  has  a  monopoly  of 
learning,  and  that  instead  of  being  enemies  they  are 
really  members  one  of  another,  brothers  in  the  great 
task  of  healing  the  open  sores  of  the  world's  suffering 
and  need !  "  Then  when  that  day  comes  will  be  ful- 
filled the  vision  of  Isaiah,  who  foretold  the  time  when 
every  one  should  help  his  neighbour,  and  every  one 
should  say  to  his  brother,  "  Be  of  good  courage,"  for 
the  carpenter  should  encourage  the  goldsmith,  and 
the  smoother  of  iron  encourage  the  smiter  of  the 
anvil,  saying,  "  It  is  ready  for  soldering."  That  is 
the  Christian  interpretation  we  need  in  all  lines  to- 
day. 

It  seems  so  hard  to  get  people  to  believe  this.  A 
practical  experiment  was  made  some  time  ago  by  Mr. 
Roger  Babson,  of  the  Babson  Statistical  Laboratory. 
He  said  they  tried  to  put  into  operation  some  plans 
which  assumed  that  the  people  of  the  community  un- 


84  A  NEW  DECLARATION 

derstood  that  the  welfare  of  each  is  dependent  on  the 
welfare  of  all,  but  he  found  that  less  than  five  per 
cent,  of  the  people  believed  any  such  proposition. 
Then  he  decided  that  he  must  go  further  back  and 
begin  to  train  the  minds  of  the  young  in  the  public 
schools,  and  teach  the  children  cooperation.  But 
there  again  he  met  with  failure,  because,  as  he  says, 
"  the  schools  are  operated  as  a  machine  with  religion 
barred  out."  So  he  found  it  almost  impossible  to 
get  men  to  accept  this  principle  until  they  came  to 
accept  it,  as  we  do  to-day,  first  of  all  as  a  great  re- 
ligious fact.  Oh,  when  men  come  to  believe  that  they 
are  members  of  one  another,  and  children  of  the  same 
Father  in  Heaven,  then  they  will  work  out  this  prin- 
ciple of  fraternity  in  every  sphere  of  human  life. 

You  remember  how  beautifully  Whittier  enforced 
this  lesson  in  his  poem,  "  The  Two  Rabbis."  The 
story  is  very  simple,  but  the  lesson  is  worth  while. 
The  Rabbi  Nathan,  who  had  lived  a  blameless  life  for 
twoscore  years  and  ten,  fell  into  sin.  Thereupon  he 
left  his  seat  among  the  elders,  and  decided  to  go  and 
confess  his  wrong  to  Rabbi  Ben  Isaac.  As  he  made 
his  way  to  Ecbatana,  he  found  his  brother  Rabbi 
kneeling  in  the  shadow  of  a  holy  tomb.  The  two  men 
clasped  each  other  to  their  hearts,  and  then  when 
Rabbi  Nathan  said,  "  Pity  me,  O  Ben  Isaac,  I  have 
sinned,"  the  second  Rabbi  stood  awestruck  himself, 
for  he  confessed  his  own  guilt,  and  he  too  asked  for 
the  prayers  of  his  brother  Rabbi.  And  there,  side  by 
side,  they  knelt  in  the  low  sunshine  by  the  turban 
stone,  and  each  man  forgot  his  own  agony  in  praying 
for  his  brother. 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  86 

"And  when  at  last  they  rose  up  and  embraced, 
Each  saw  God's  pardon  in  his  brother's  face. 
Heaven's  gate  is  shut  to  him  who  comes  alone; 
Save  thou  a  soul,  and  it  shall  save  thy  own." 

//.  This  Great  Fact  of  Interdependence  Applies 
Also  in  National  Life. 

The  Bible  is  an  international  Book.  You  get  a 
beautiful  picture  of  international  cooperation  away 
back  in  i  Kings,  when  the  description  of  Solomon's 
Temple  is  given.  There  is  a  significance  there  for  us 
to-day,  for  the  fact  simply  is  that  the  Temple  could 
not  have  been  built  except  for  the  friendly  relations 
existing  between  the  kings  and  people  of  Israel  and 
Tyre.  The  Hebrews  were  farmers,  and  the  Tyrians 
were  mechanics  and  seafarers.  So  the  kindly  rela- 
tions between  the  two  nations  made  it  possible  for 
Hiram's  people  to  bring  down  their  magnificent  trees 
to  Palestine  for  the  Temple;  and  then  in  turn,  the 
people  of  Tyre  were  able  to  live  on  their  rock-bound 
hills,  because  they  received  the  surplus  farm  products 
from  the  Hebrews.  Mutual  necessity  brought  the 
two  nations  together  in  mutual  service. 

It  is  well  for  us  of  the  Church  to  insist  in  these 
days  when  Internationalism  is  being  so  much  dis- 
cussed, that  one  of  the  prime  factors  in  the  growth  of 
Internationalism  has  been  Religion.  Let  us  see  how 
this  came  about.  In  primitive  times  there  were  many 
gods.  Each  people  of  course  believed  its  own  god 
to  be  the  true  one.  These  various  gods  were  sup- 
posed to  be  jealous  of  one  another,  and  to  incite  their 
followers  to  hate  other  gods  and  their  followers. 
Under  these  conditions  there  was  almost  constant 


86  A  NEW  DECLARATION 

warfare  among  the  believers  in  different  deities. 
Now  when  polytheism  passed  into  monotheism,  broth- 
erhood was  enlarged,  for  each  group  of  people  looked 
upon  believers  in  their  own  god  as  brothers,  for  they 
regarded  themselves  as  the  offspring  of  their  deity. 
This  meant  that  all  believers  in  the  same  God  were 
protected  by  the  whole  tribe  or  clan.  Therefore, 
when  other  people  came  to  believe  in  their  God,  they 
became  their  brothers.  Hence,  when  the  monotheism 
of  the  Jews  passed  over  into  Christianity,  the  bounds 
of  religion  were  extended  to  include  all  nations,  and 
the  command  was  to  go  and  baptize  all  people. 
Therefore,  you  see  that  the  Early  Church  was  the 
world's  first  great  international  institution,  and  For- 
eign Missions  becomes  simply  the  inevitable  result  of 
sound  logic,  a  piece  of  world  statesmanship.  For  if 
God  is  one,  and  all  people  are  children  of  God,  then 
all  men  are  brothers,  and  then  of  course  there  is  no 
limit  to  my  human  interests,  because  my  world  is 
bounded,  as  somebody  has  said,  on  the  north  by 
the  Aurora  Borealis,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Frozen 
Pole,  on  the  east  by  the  Rising  Sun,  and  on  the  west 
by  the  Day  of  Judgment. 

Next  to  religion  another  factor  ought  to  be  men- 
tioned, and  that  is  the  extension  of  blood  kinship.  In 
early  days  friendship  was  limited  to  people  of  the 
same  kin.  This  meant  first  that  the  family  would 
love  each  other,  because  the  same  blood  was  in  all 
their  veins.  Gradually  the  family  developed  into  the 
clan,  and  the  clan  into  the  tribe ;  so  that  when  a  for- 
eigner was  made  a  member  of  a  given  tribe,  the  cere- 
mony of  transfusion  of  blood  was  gone  through  with 


A  NEW  DECLARATION  87 

to  show  that  he  was  henceforth  hterally  of  the  same 
blood  as  his  fellows.  Here  is  where  the  Old  Testa- 
ment finds  the  ancient  Jews.  They  were  just  a  col- 
lection of  tribes  when  they  first  appeared  in  the  Bible, 
and  so  you  hear  about  the  Ten  Tribes  and  the  Twelve 
Tribes.  In  process  of  time,  kings  were  given  to  the 
people,  for  the  purpose  of  welding  the  scattered  tribes 
into  a  nation.  Now,  if  you  will  open  your  modern 
history,  and  lay  it  beside  your  ancient  history,  you 
will  see  that  precisely  the  same  historical  development 
has  taken  place  in  Germany,  and  Italy,  and  France, 
and  England,  and  Spain,  that  took  place  in  Israel. 
They  have  been  unified  into  nations  by  development 
from  early  tribes.  Up  to  this  point  the  principle  of 
my  text  has  been  accepted  in  the  world.  We  are 
members  one  of  another — we  Italians,  we  French, 
and  we  Germans,  because  the  same  blood  flows  in  our 
veins.  There  the  progress  has  stopped,  however; 
and  for  years  the  nations  have  been  walling  them- 
selves in,  and  building  up  their  armies  and  their 
navies. 

There  have  been  prophets  of  a  better  day,  however, 
appearing  at  various  times  all  through  the  years. 
Dante  with  his  "  Monarchia,"  Henry  of  Navarre  with 
his  "  Great  Design,"  William  Penn  with  his  plan  for 
the  United  States  of  Europe,  Immanuel  Kant  with 
his  idea  of  "  Eternal  Peace," — all  these  men  have  ar- 
gued for  a  state  of  nations,  a  federation  of  the  world. 
Goethe  in  his  day  insisted  that  Science  and  Art  be- 
longed to  all  the  world,  and  before  them  the  bound- 
aries of  nationality  must  disappear.  Socialism  has 
maintained  the  same  thing;  and  it  is  very  interesting 


88  A  NEW  DECLAEATION 

to  observe  that  at  the  SociaHst  Conference  at  Amster- 
dam in  1904,  at  the  very  time  when  Russia  and  Japan 
were  at  war,  there  was  one  delegate  from  each  of 
these  warring  nations,  and  these  two  delegates  sat 
side  by  side,  referring  to  each  other  always  in 
courteous  and  friendly  terms.  But  it  is  not  only 
Socialists,  and  artists,  and  scientists,  that  have  the 
international  viewpoint ;  but  preeminently,  Christians 
must  have  it.  We  must  give  our  food,  our  inven- 
tions, our  literature,  our  scientific  discoveries,  but 
most  of  all,  our  Christ, — to  the  world.  We  have  no 
right  to  feast  on  Christ,  and  let  the  other  nations 
starve  for  lack  of  Him.  And  so  I  found  on  a  recent 
Sunday  evening,  when  we  were  preparing  for  a  serv- 
ice of  international  friendship,  that  the  only  appro- 
priate hymns  in  our  books  were  missionaiy  hymns. 
Foreign  Missions  is  the  great  international  business 
of  the  Church,  and  Foreign  Missions  will  never  again 
need  to  be  defended.  In  the  days  when  we  as  a  na- 
tion avoided  entangling  political  alliances,  I  can  see 
how  the  religious  separatist  would  have  had  good 
ground  for  his  argument  that  we  must  avoid  entan- 
gling religious  alliances.  But  now  his  argument  is 
gone,  for  we  are  not  merely  the  United  States  of 
America,  we  are  part  of  the  United  States  of  the 
World.  So  the  world  must  speak  a  new  language 
henceforth,  the  universal  language  of  love ;  and  must 
have  a  new  standard  of  ethics  and  morality,  the 
standard  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Here,  then,  is  the  uniqueness  of  our  situation  to- 
day. Jesus  Christ  stands  out  on  the  highway  of  the 
.world's  hatred,  towering  above  the  walls  which  na- 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  89 

tions  have  built  around  themselves,  saying:  "Carry 
the  principle  of  cooperation  on  to  its  logical  conclu- 
sion. Let  the  same  interdependence  which  enlarged 
you  from  a  tribe  into  a  nation  enlarge  you  from  a 
nation  into  a  world  brotherhood.  You  say  you  be- 
lieve in  one  blood.  Very  well.  My  Father  hath 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  the  world.  The 
same  blood  flows  behind  your  fence  that  flows  behind 
the  fence  across  the  way.  The  only  trouble  is,  you 
insist  on  having  a  margin  of  indifference,  a  highway 
of  hate  separating  you,  a  kind  of  No  Man's  Land 
running  between  you,  and  you  won't  let  the  blood 
cross.  What  you  need  is  transfusion  of  blood,  and 
not  loss  of  blood.  Take  hold  of  one  of  my  hands, 
each  of  you,  and  let  me  be  the  peacemaker  between 
you,  for  only  by  way  of  the  Cross  will  you  become 
one." 

Do  you  know  that  when  Jesus  came  the  first  time, 
two  thousand  years  ago,  the  whole  civilized  world 
was  under  one  political  rule,  and  that  this  was  the 
first  and  only  time  in  the  world's  history  that  it  has 
been  so?  The  nations  were  knit  together  in  the 
bonds  of  commercial  interdependence,  and  it  was  the 
only  time  when  preachers  of  the  Gospel  found  trade 
routes  ready  to  their  service,  and  the  only  time  in 
history  that  one  could  journey  from  Ireland  to  the 
Euphrates,  and  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Desert  of 
Sahara,  without  encountering  a  single  custom-house. 
The  internationalism  of  the  world  came  at  the  same 
time  as  the  great  international  Man,  Christ  Jesus. 
That  is  a  very  suggestive  fact.  But  that  was  the  in- 
ternationalism of  one  great  dominating  power.    What 


90  A  NEW  DECLAEATION 

we  want  to-day  is  the  internationalism  not  of  Im- 
perialism, but  of  Democracy.  Tennyson  was  the 
prophet  of  this  new  and  greater  internationalism, 
when  he  sang: 

"  When  the  schemes  and  all  the  systems, 
Kingdoms  and  republics  fall ; 
Something  kindlier,  higher,  holier, 
All  for  each,  and  each  for  all. 

"All  the  full-brain,  half  brain  races, 
Led  by  Justice,  Love,  and  Truth ; 
All  the  millions  one  at  length. 
With  all  the  visions  of  my  youth. 

"  Earth  at  last  a  warless  world, 
A  single  race,  a  single  tongue. 
I  have  seen  her  far  away. 
For  is  not  Earth  as  yet  so  young? 

"  Every  tiger  madness  muzzled. 
Every  serpent  passion  killed ; 
Every  grim  ravine  a  garden, 
Every  blazing  desert  tilled. 

"  Forward,  let  the  stormy  moment. 
Fly  and  mingle  with  the  past; 
I  that  loathed  have  come  to  love  him; 
Love  will  conquer  at  the  last." 

///.  This  Same  Great  Fact  of  Interdependence 
Applies  Also  in  the  Spiritual  Life. 

One  Sunday  Sir  George  Adam  Smith  sat  talking 
with  me  in  my  study  before  going  down  to  preach  at 
the  morning  service.  We  fell  to  discussing  some  of 
his  past  experiences.  He  referred  to  some  pulpits  in 
which  he  had  been  denied  a  hearing  because,  forsooth, 
he  was  not  a  rabid  advocate  of  a  certain  theory  of  the 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  91 

Second  Coming  of  Christ;  and  finally  he  said: 
"  What  is  the  use  of  always  talking  about  His  coming 
in  the  future,  when  He  is  here  in  my  heart  to-day  ? " 
Then  he  told  me  of  a  man  who  wrote  him  a  letter,  one 
of  these  men  who,  in  Dr.  Francis'  happy  phrase, 
"  uses  the  Bible  as  a  Santa  Fe  time-table,"  and  can 
tell  you  just  when  Jesus  is  going  to  come,  and  just 
where  His  train  is  going  to  stop ;  and  this  man  signed 
himself,  "  Yours  in  the  coming  of  our  Lord."  Sir 
George  said  that  he  replied  to  the  letter,  and  signed 
himself,  "  Yours  in  the  power  of  the  indwelling 
Christ."     I  think  the  reply  was  a  very  good  one. 

The  incident  emphasizes  what  I  am  trying  to  say  in 
these  closing  words.  Paul,  in  this  fourth  chapter  of 
Ephesians,  from  which  my  text  is  taken,  uses  the  fig- 
ure of  the  body.  He  compares  the  Church  to  the 
body  of  Christ,  representing  it  as  a  great  organism — 
not  a  clumsy  piling  together  of  parts  as  in  a  scrap-pile 
or  a  junk-heap,  but  as  an  organism,  unified  and  domi- 
nated by  one  common  life.  You  can  go  over  the 
battle-fields  of  Europe  and  pick  up  countless  dissev- 
ered limbs  and  arms  and  bodies  and  feet,  and  lay  them 
mechanically  in  the  proper  relative  position;  but  out 
of  them  all  you  will  not  be  able  to  manufacture  one 
man,  for  they  are  not  members  one  of  another ;  they 
are  members  of  different  bodies ;  there  is  no  common 
life  current  flowing  through  them.  So  Paul  holds 
that  the  Church  is  not  a  fortuitous  concourse  of  theo- 
logical atoms,  but  a  building,  with  all  its  parts  per- 
fectly fitted  into  one  beautiful  and  complete  structure. 

Jesus  uses  another,  and  an  even  more  beautiful 
figure  than  Paul.     If  Paul  compares  the  Church  to  a 


92  A  NEW  DECLARATION 

building,  Jesus  compares  it  to  a  vine.  If  Paul  says 
we  are  members  one  of  another,  Jesus  says  we  are 
actually  members  of  Him.  On  that  never-to-be-for- 
gotten night,  when  Jesus  held  His  last  long  conversa- 
tion with  the  disciples,  He  may  have  had  the  idea 
suggested  to  Him  by  a,  fragment  of  a  vine  which  made 
its  way  through  the  open  window.  Others  believe 
that  Jesus,  on  His  way  to  the  garden,  went  to  take  a 
farewell  glance  at  the  Temple,  and  that  He  directed 
the  attention  of  His  disciples  to  its  golden  vine. 
However  the  thought  came,  the  figure  is  exquisitely 
beautiful.  We  are  branches  of  the  vine,  and  only  as 
we  abide  in  Him  do  we  bring  forth  fruit. 

Do  you  remember  how  the  Gospel  of  John  traces 
the  three  steps  of  progressive  intimacy  between  Jesus 
and  His  disciples  ?  In  the  thirteenth  chapter  He  calls 
them  servants.  Now  you  know  a  servant  lives  in  the 
house  with  you,  but  is  not  a  member  of  the  family. 
Then  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  He  calls  them  friends. 
Now  a  friend  may  be  entertained  in  your  home,  but 
he  docs  not  abide  there.  But  In  the  twentieth  chapter 
of  John,  after  the  Resurrection,  Jesus  calls  His  dis- 
ciples brethren.  Now,  a  brother  is  a  member  of  your 
family.  The  same  blood  is  in  his  veins  and  yours. 
He  probably  abides  in  your  home.  So  Jesus  offers  to 
be  your  brother  and  mine.  In  the  light  of  this  figure, 
do  you  wish  to  declare  your  independence  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  your  interdependence  on  Him?  Is  it  not 
time  that  we  Christians  made  a  new  declaration,  espe- 
cially in  this  hour,  of  our  absolute  and  utter  depend- 
ence on  Him?  Just  rest  on  Him  the  burden  and 
meantime  abide  in  His  love.     When  my  little  son 


A  NEW  DECLAEATION  93 

climbs  up  into  my  machine,  and  I  drive  down  through 
the  devious  avenues  of  city  traffic,  he  simply  leaves  to 
me  the  direction  of  the  c"r.  He  does  not  worry  at 
all,  because  he  abides  in  my  love,  and  trusts  me  to  see 
him  through.  He  is  a  member  of  my  family,  a  mem- 
ber of  me,  and  he  knows  I  would  sooner  die  than  be- 
tray the  trust  he  reposes  in  me.  If  I  am  thus  faith- 
ful to  the  little  soul  which  abides  in  me,  do  you  not 
think  Christ  will  be  faithful  to  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  Him? 

The  other  night  at  the  Midnight  Mission,  some  of 
us  went  down  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  occasion  of 
their  anniversary.  After  the  addresses,  when  the  in- 
vitation was  given,  several  men  came  forward  and 
knelt  at  the  altar-rail.  I  went  up  and  talked  with  one 
man,  and  asked  him  if  he  were  a  Christian,  and  he 
said,  "  Yes,"  he  had  been  one  for  several  months.  I 
then  asked  him  if  he  had  openly  confessed  Christ  by 
connecting  himself  with  some  church,  and  he  said 
"  No."  I  told  him  I  thought  he  would  find  it  easier  to 
continue  in  the  Christian  life  if  he  took  that  open 
stand.  "  Oh,"  he  said,  "  a  fellow  can  hold  out  all 
right  if  he  tries."  Then  I  assured  him  that  he  could 
not  hold  out  in  his  own  strength;  and  some  words 
came  to  my  mind,  and  I  close  my  sermon  this  morning 
with  the  same  words  which  I  quoted  to  the  poor  penti- 
tent  at  the  Mission : 

"  My  brother,  you  fear  that  you  cannot  hold  out ; 
Trust  self,  and  your  hope  is  gone: 
The  motto  of  Christ  for  those  who  doubt 
Is  not  •  Hold  out '  but  *  Hold  on.' " 


VI 

CORN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON,  OR 
BUSINESS  AND  RELIGION 

"  When  will  the  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may  sell 
corn?" — Amos  8:5. 

MY  text  tells  of  a  time  when  religion  inter- 
fered with  business.  It  is  the  protest  of 
commercialism  against  mysticism.  It  sees 
no  use  in  the  suspension  of  traffic  for  holidays.  It 
is  the  cry  of  the  corn-merchants  who  are  compelled 
to  sit  with  idle  hands  and  lose  trade  until  the  day  of 
the  new  moon  be  over.  And  while  the  terms  may 
sound  antiquated,  yet  the  fundamental  idea  behind 
the  question  is  as  much  in  evidence  in  the  twentieth 
century  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Amos :  "  When  will 
the  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may  sell  corn  ?  " 

The  Book  of  Amos  is  a  tract  for  the  times.  In 
fact  we  are  beginning  to  discover  that  the  Minor 
Prophets  are  alive  with  the  discussion  of  problems 
which  face  us  to-day.  They  cut  so  close  home  that 
many  of  the  men  in  our  pews  do  not  like  to  hear  the 
text  announced  from  their  pages.  I  remember  a 
New  York  clergyman,  who  told  me  that  he  was  fond 
of  reading  and  preaching  from  the  Major  and  Minor 
Prophets,  and  that  some  of  the  financiers  in  his  flock 
finally  remonstrated  with  him  requesting  a  discon- 
tinuance of  this  practice — with  the  ultimate  result 
that  he  resigned  his  pastorate.    You  can't  please  some 

94 


COEN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON     95 

of  our  modern  congregations  better  than  never  to 
mention  this  portion  of  God's  word. 

Now  this  rude  herdman  of  Tekoa  whom  we  know 
as  Amos  got  himself  into  a  good  deal  of  trouble  by 
reprovmg  the  pride  and  luxury  of  the  people  of  his 
time.  His  denunciations  offended  not  only  the  priest 
of  Bethel  who  reported  him  to  the  king  as  a  disturber 
of  the  peace,  but  the  Wall  Street  men  also.  I  fancy 
Amos  wasn't  very  popular  on  "  change."  I  imagine 
the  newspapers  ridiculed  and  mercilessly  cartooned 
this  prophet  of  calamity.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  the 
Board  of  Commerce  passed  unanimously  a  set  of  reso- 
lutions asking  him  to  leave  the  city  and  take  his  re- 
ligious observances  and  his  holidays  with  him.  But 
he  refused  to  move  a  step  and  so  the  only  recourse 
the  merchants  had  was  to  whine — and  this  is  a  very 
whining  text,  "  When  will  the  new  moon  be  gone, 
that  we  may  sell  corn  ?  " 

What  is  this  new  moon  to  which  these  Jewish 

traffickers  took  exception  ?    It  was  one  of  the  annual 

feasts  instituted  by  Moses,  on  which  day  the  people 

must  blow  trumpets  over  their  burnt  offerings  and 

their  peace  offerings.     And  it  was  a  far  more  im- 

I  portant  day  than  it  is  with  us,  for  committees  were 

!  sent  out  to  catch  the  first  rays  of  the  new  moon,  and 

i  as  soon  as  they  sighted  it,  they  announced  the  fact  by 

i  fires  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  the  watchers  on 

)  neighbouring  mountains,  catching  the  signal,  lighted 

I  in  turn  their  fires  and  soon  all  the  heights  were  aflame 

'  with  the  good  news  that  another  cycle  of  thirty  days 

;  had  begun.     All  labour  was  halted  and  the  people 

were  rallied  anew  to  allegiance  to  Jehovah. 


96     CORN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON 

The  point  of  the  text,  then,  is  that  rehgion  had 
touched  the  pocketbook,  and  when  it  gets  to  that  point, 
it  always  hurts.  The  stock-brokers  were  perfectly 
satisfied  for  Amos  to  preach  religion,  if  he  wanted  to, 
but  they  didn't  want  him  to  interfere  with  their  reve- 
nue. They  were  impatient  to  get  back  to  work. 
The  Fourth  of  July  never  did  anybody  any  good,  any- 
way, and  the  Sunday  blue  laws  were  a  nuisance. 
The  people  who  wanted  new  moons  were  welcome  to 
them,  but  as  for  themselves,  they  wanted  to  sell  corn. 

Now,  I  propose  to  consider  this  thought  of  Corn 
and  the  New  Moon  as  setting  forth  the  relation  of 
Business  and  Religion.  Let  us  discuss  some  of  the 
questions  suggested  by  the  text : 

I.     The  Pressure  of  Business. 

You  will  notice  that  there  is  a  great  assumption 
underlying  this  text,  which  is  either  true  or  false. 
If  it  is  true,  then  the  plaint  is  entirely  justified.  If 
it  is  false,  then  it  ought  to  be  corrected.  That  as- 
sumption is:  that  the  main  purpose  of  life  is  to  sell 
corn.  The  New-Moon  holidays  have  to  be  endured 
as  a  necessary  evil,  but  we  must  get  back  to  the  corn 
as  quickly  as  possible.  It  is  the  thought  which  Mark 
Twain  put  into  Adam's  diary  supposedly  narrating 
his  experiences  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  When  he 
comes  to  Sunday,  time  seems  to  hang  heavy  on  his 
hands,  for  the  record  is :  "  Sunday — pulled  through." 
And  I  suppose  there  are  many  modern  Adams  who 
just  manage  to  pull  through  Sunday,  and  are  happy 
only  when  they  are  back  at  their  desks  on  Monday. 
Now,  there  is  another  possible  assumption:  and  that 


CORN  AlTD  THE  NEW  MOON  97 

is  the  main  business  of  life  is  the  New  Moon  and  the 
religion  for  which  it  stands — and  that  we  sell  corn 
simply  between  times  as  a  means  of  making  a  living. 
These  are  the  two  extremes  of  materialism  on  the  one 
hand  and  mysticism  on  the  other — and  between  the 
two  every  one  of  us  somewhere  finds  his  place. 

I  think  we  shall  admit,  without  any  debate,  at  the 
outset,  that  modern  life  has  too  much  corn  and  too 
little  moon.  One  of  our  writers  says  that  there  is 
more  care  and  fret  in  a  year  of  New  York  City  than 
in  a  century  of  Hindustan.  We  have  long  since 
wiped  out  of  our  business  calendars  many  of  the 
ancient  Hebrew  holidays,  and  we  have  all  we  can  do 
to  keep  those  required  by  law  still  remaining.  In 
fact  we  Americans  have  invented  so  many  new  nerv- 
ous diseases  that  we  have  had  to  invent  a  new  re- 
ligion, Christian  Science,  to  cure  them.  There  are 
too  many  exhausts  and  too  few  exhilarators  in  our 
modern  machinery.  To  borrow  the  automobilist's 
figure :  we  Americans  travel  in  high  speed  too  much. 

Only  glance  at  our  life  and  its  high  pressure :  Our 
forefathers  had  to  quit  work  at  sunset — but  we  have 
lighted  our  offices  with  the  electric  light  and  can  have 
it  bright  as  day  at  midnight,  if  we  will.  The  Pull- 
man sleeper  makes  it  possible  for  us  to  travel  and 
sleep  at  the  same  time.  The  wireless  telegraph  keeps 
us  in  touch  with  our  office  even  when  we  are  vacating 
on  the  great  ocean.  The  Sunday  excursion  enables 
us  to  take  an  outing  on  God's  day  without  taking  any 
time  off  from  our  business — we  simply  take  it  off 
from  the  Lord.  To  be  sure,  the  eight-hour  day  and 
the  child  labour  laws  and  the  Socialist  party  and  the 


98  COEN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON 

labour  organizations  are  doing  what  they  can  to  com- 
pel more  time  for  the  New  Moon,  but  Corn  still  holds 
the  day  to  a  great  extent.  Charles  Stelzle,  who 
knows  the  labouring  men  so  well,  says  that  the  motto 
of  many  a  working  man  is  still  "  Meat,  Malt  and 
Mattress,"  that  is  to  say,  food,  drink  and  a  place  to 
sleep — and  not  much  place  for  New  Moons  in  such  a 
program  as  that. 

One  of  our  ministers  tells  of  spending  several 
months  in  south  France  with  a  young  man  who  had 
made  money  at  fever  heat  in  New  York,  going  almost 
wild  in  the  craze  of  the  market — corn,  corn,  corn; 
and  then  his  doctor  ordered  him  over  to  the  salubrious 
climate  of  southern  France,  to  spend  his  hard-earned 
dollars  in  the  vain  effort  to  get  well  again.  What  a 
common  story  that  is:  of  the  man  who  has  no  time 
for  the  weekly  Sabbath  moon  of  rest,  or  the  daily 
evening  moon  of  repose  or  the  monthly  new  moon  of 
an  occasional  holiday,  and  then  he  finds  out  too  late 
that  all  these  moons  were  but  the  kind  provision  of  a 
wise  creator  who  knew  man  needed  the  periodic  rest 
He  gave. 

The  San  Francisco  World's  Fair  decided  to  give 
the  world  a  needed  lesson.  It  is  rather  strange  that 
none  of  our  previous  World's  Fairs  impressed  our 
religion  on  the  sightseer.  We  had  all  sorts  of  ex- 
hibits of  art  and  education  and  industry — but  it  was 
all  com.  San  Francisco  decided  that  the  world 
should  know  that  we  Americans  have  some  Moons 
here  also — and  so  they  planted  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  exhibition  a  lasting  symbol  of  our  faith  and 
loyalty  to  the  god  of  the  New  Moon.     It  is  sad  that 


COKN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON     99 

the  idea  should  be  so  new — and  yet  I'm  afraid  that 
many  foreigners  are  much  more  impressed  by  our 
business  than  our  rehgion,  for  our  sky-scrapers  are 
much  more  in  evidence  tha«  our  churches.  John 
Kelman  wisely  said,  "  God  pity  that  city  or  country 
whose  smoke-stacks  rise  higher  than  its  church 
steeples." 
We  may  well  emulate  the  spirit  of  Kipling's  prayer: 

"  For  heathen  heart  that  puts  her  trust 

In  reeking  tube  and  iron  shard — 
All  valiant  dust  that  builds  on  dust, 

And  guarding,  calls  not  Thee  to  guard; 
For  frantic  boast  and  foolish  word. 

Thy  mercy  on  Thy  people.  Lord.    Amen." 

//.  The  Necessity  of  Fixed  Seasons  of  Rest  and 
Worship. 

My  second  point  follows  logically  upon  the  first. 
For  if  we  grant  the  tendency  of  business  to  usurp  the 
whole  life,  we  see  at  once  that  the  only  defense,  the 
only  guarantee  that  religion  will  receive  its  fair  share 
of  time,  is  in  the  existence  of  fixed  and  definite 
seasons  which  are  set  apart  for  its  observance. 
Therefore,  before  you  rail  at  the  New  Moon  holiday, 
just  stop  and  observe  that  if  it  were  left  to  our  caprice 
and  if  we  didn't  have  the  recurring  monthly  day  to 
remind  us  of  it,  we  should  probably  slip  over  our 
holiday  altogether  and  the  first  thing  you  knew  we 
should  be  a  moonless  people  whose  one  object  in  life 
was  the  cultivation  and  the  sale  of  com. 

Just  here  is  the  answer  to  those  critics  who  ob- 
ject to  the  enforcement  of  all  Sabbath  laws.  They 
say  that  no  outside  authority,  the  government  or  any- 


100  COEN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON 

body  else,  has  any  right  to  compel  them  to  rest  one 
day  in  seven,  but  that  this  weekly  rest  should  be  left 
to  the  individual  conscience.  Right  here  is  the  an- 
swer: It  is  a  great  principle  of  pedagogy  that  law 
must  do  for  children  what  they  will  not  do  for  them- 
selves— and  we  are  all  children  of  a  larger  growth. 
And  it  has  been  proven  by  experiment  that  man  needs 
certain  new  moons  ever  so  often  for  rest  and  wor- 
ship— and  the  history  of  the  world  has  also  shown  that 
man  left  to  himself  will  become  so  engrossed  in  his 
struggle  for  a  living  that  he  will  neglect  those  halting- 
places  along  the  path  of  life — and  so  the  State  has  to 
come  in  to  the  aid  of  the  Church,  in  defense  of  the 
common  welfare. 

America  is  witnessing  right  now  the  contest  be- 
tween the  Corn  and  the  New  Moon.  The  pessimist 
is  the  man  who  says  the  corn  is  going  to  win,  and  the 
optimist  insists  that  the  new  moon  is  going  to  win.  I 
believe  the  optimist  is  right.  I  recall  a  sentence  of  a 
recent  essayist  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly — he  exclaims, 
"  Somehow  the  religion  of  Christ  has  got  loose  again 
in  our  world."  Taking  this  assertion  as  my  point  of 
departure,  I  began  to  test  its  truth — and  I  call  your 
attention  to  some  of  the  things  I  discovered.  Be- 
ginning right  here  in  America,  I  read  an  editorial 
from  the  Wall  Street  Journal  which  said  among  other 
things :  "  What  America  needs  more  than  railway  ex- 
tension and  western  irrigation  and  a  low  tariff  and 
a  bigger  wheat  crop  and  a  merchant  marine  and  a 
new  navy,  is  a  revival  of  piety;  the  kind  father  and 
mother  used  to  have — ^piety  that  counted  it  good 
business   to   stop   for  daily   family  prayers   before 


COEN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON  101 

breakfast,  right  in  the  middle  of  the  harvest;  that 
quit  work  a  half-hour  earlier  Thursday  night  so  as  to 
get  the  chores  done  and  go  to  prayer-meeting;  that 
borrowed  money  to  pay  the  preacher's  salary,  etc.  .  .  . 
What  is  this  thing  which  we  are  worshipping  but  a 
vain  repetition  of  what  decayed  nations  fell  down  and 
worshipped  just  before  their  light  went  out?  Great 
wealth  never  made  a  nation  substantial  nor  honour- 
able. ...  It  takes  greater  and  finer  heroism  to 
dare  to  be  poor  in  America  than  to  charge  an  earth- 
works in  Manchuria."  What  do  you  think  of  that 
for  a  Wall  Street  sermon?  It  is  just  an  amplification 
of  my  text  and  says  in  substance  this :  "  Don't  founder 
on  corn,  as  other  nations  have  done, — Rome  and 
Greece  and  the  rest  of  them, — leaving  nothing  to 
posterity  other  than  their  broken  ruins  glimmering  in 
the  moonlight."  Well,  I  discover  that  the  same  thing 
is  echoed  in  the  pages  of  the  French  press — and  that 
one  of  the  hopeful  signs  of  the  present  day  is  a  re- 
action toward  vital  religion  in  France.  About  the 
time  that  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  became 
effective  in  France,  there  broke  out  a  series  of  mur- 
derous crimes,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  city  govern- 
ment had  to  provide  dogs  for  the  protection  of  its 
officers.  This  comment  was  made  by  an  observant 
citizen :  "  What  else  can  you  expect  ?  We  have  ex- 
pelled a  Church  that  was  effete,  but  as  a  nation  we 
cannot  live  secure  without  religion." 

When  we  turn  from  France  to  India,  the  story  is 
the  same :  The  Bengal  Trade  Association  has  peti- 
tioned the  government  to  provide  some  religious  in- 
struction in  the  government  colleges.     "  If,"  they  say. 


102  COEN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON 

"  you  cannot  give  Christian  instruction,  at  least  teacH 
them  their  own  faith,  Hindu  or  Mohammedan,  for 
no  people  can  exist  without  religion."  In  the  light 
of  such  facts  as  these,  I  hold  that  John  Fiske  is  justi- 
fied in  his  dictum  that  religion  is  "  the  largest  and 
most  ubiquitous  fact  connected  with  the  existence  of 
mankind  upon  the  earth," — as  the  scientist  says,  "  an 
inevitable  element  in  human  life." 

It  is  a  very  noteworthy  fact  that  the  philosopher 
Comte,  the  very  man  who  had  predicted  the  fatal  ex- 
tinction of  the  disposition  to  religion  in  the  human 
soul,  ended  his  career  by  founding  a  new  religion 
clumsily  copied  from  the  Roman  Catholic.  Some 
of  his  disciples  tried  to  excuse  their  master  by  say- 
ing that  he  had  gone  mad — but  he  hadn't  at  all — he 
had  gone  sane — he  had  discovered  that  the  soul  in  its 
outcry  for  a  God  was  not  to  be  silenced  by  the  empty 
words  of  philosophy  any  more  than  it  is  to  be  fed  on 
husks  of  corn  which  the  swine  do  eat.  After  all,  the 
difference  between  swine  and  manhood  is  this:  that 
swine  are  perfectly  content  to  stay  in  the  far  coun- 
try as  long  as  you  will  fill  them  with  com ; — but  man- 
hood staggers  home  bruised  and  bleeding  to  its  God. 
Which  do  you  prefer,  husks  or  moonlight? 

///.  The  Endangered  New  Moons  of  the  Pres- 
ent Day. 

Sometimes  it  looks  as  if  an  eclipse  of  the  moon 
were  darkening  our  land.  I  would  remind  you  of 
some  of  the  moons  which  are  in  danger  of  being 
eclipsed  by  the  clouds  of  commercialism.  There  is 
the  New  Moon  of  Childhood,  for  instance.     Oh,  I  be- 


CORN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON     103 

lieve  increasingly  in  child  labour  laws.  Any  of  you 
who  studied  the  exhibits  at  our  Conservation  Expo- 
sition which  pictured  the  tragedy  of  precious  rose- 
buds sacrificed  on  the  altars  of  American  greed,  will 
never  forget  the  awful  picture.  Stand  by  the  doors 
of  any  of  our  great  factories  at  the  closing  hour  and 
watch  the  streams  of  stunted  and  blasted  and  wrecked 
lives  issuing  forth  from  the  mouth  of  this  devouring 
demon  of  iron  and  steel — and  you  will  see  that  while 
we  are  making  corn,  God  knows  we  are  paying  dearly 
for  it.  And  God  pity  the  revenues  which  are  piled 
up  out  of  stolen  boyhood  and  girlhood,  to  swell  the 
bank  account  of  some  magnate  who  already  has  more 
corn  than  he  knows  what  to  do  with. 

Then  there  is  the  New  Moon  of  Business  Depres- 
sions. Oh,  how  much  we  heard  about  in  such  ab- 
normal years  as  we  have  been  passing  through! 
Business  men  on  every  corner  were  asking,  "  When 
will  the  new  moon  be  gone  that  we  may  sell  corn  ?  " 
If  our  revenues  are  not  up  to  the  top  notch  every 
month,  we  complain.  Now  granted  that  there  may 
be  a  periodical  shrinkage,  may  it  not  do  us  good? 
Three  crops  a  year,  so  the  farmers  tell  us,  will  wear 
out  the  soil.  Time  and  again  when  I  have  asked  why 
yonder  field  is  lying  idle,  I  have  been  told  that  it  is  not 
idle  but  is  resting  that  it  may  do  all  the  better  the 
next  year.  Why,  even  a  razor — so  a  California  barber 
told  me,  will  do  better  work  if  it  is  allowed  to  rest 
on  Sunday.  And  freight  crews  that  rest  one  day  in 
seven  have  been  proven  to  do  much  better  and  much 
more  work  than  those  who  work  every  day  and  all 
day  long  of  a  moonless  week. 


104  COEN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON 

Then  there  are  the  National  New  Moons.  Many 
foreigners  would  insist  on  working  on  the  Fourth  of 
July  and  the  twenty-second  of  February  and  the 
thirtieth  of  May  unless  they  were  withheld  by  the 
strong  arm  of  law.  For  they  figure  it  is  better  to  add 
to  the  contents  of  their  cash-drawer  than  it  is  to  in- 
crease the  diameter  of  their  soul.  Like  the  man  af- 
flicted with  both  cold  and  fever,  Vv^ho  said  he  would 
stuff  the  cold  and  let  the  fever  starve  a  while,  so  they, 
being  afflicted  with  both  a  soul  and  a  body,  resolve  to 
stuff  the  body  and  let  the  soul  starve  a  while. 

Then,  too,  there  are  the  New  Moons  of  the  Re- 
ligious Life.  Oh,  brethren,  don't  let  them  go — they 
are  a  good  investment — even  Wall  Street  says  so — 
statesmanship  says  so — history  says  so — ^your  experi- 
ence says  so.  Let  the  people  who  want  to  worship 
the  Corn-god  go  to  darkest  Africa  or  the  depths  of 
heathendom  somewhere  and  like  the  other  savages 
build  themselves  an  idol,  wood  or  stone  or  corn, — the 
material  makes  no  difference.  But  let  us  tell  them 
distinctly  that  as  long  as  they  live  in  America,  they 
must  observe  the  holiday  of  the  New  Moon.  And  let 
us  warn  all  these  immigrants,  Jews,  Europeans, 
Asiatics,  Barbarian  and  Scythian,  bond  and  free,  that 
while  they  are  at  liberty  to  elect  whether  they  shall 
come  to  America  or  not,  once  having  decided  to  come 
here,  they  must  expect  to  revere  the  institutions  of  the 
land — and  if  they  are  caught  stealing  any  of  our 
Moons,  they  will  be  prosecuted  for  criminal  robbery. 

Then,  finally,  there  is  also  the  New  Moon  of  Per- 
sonal Bereavement.  The  other  evening  I  sat  in  a 
sick-room  and  talked  with  a  woman  who  had  been 


CORN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON  105 

sick  seventeen  years — and  who  for  four  years  had 
been  unable  to  Hft  her  right  hand  to  her  face.  I  tell 
you,  as  I  saw  the  mist  of  tears  when  we  had  finished 
our  prayer  of  comfort,  I  couldn't  blame  this  child  of 
God  if  she  had  said:  "  When  will  the  New  Moon  be 
gone  that  I  may  sell  corn?"  Well,  blessed  be  God, 
the  tedium  of  the  New  Moon  is  lighted  by  His  pres- 
ence, so  that  His  child  can 

"  Trace  the  rainbow  through  the  rain, 
And  feel  the  promise  is  not  vain, 
That  morn  shall  tearless  be." 

IV.     The  Sad  Plight  of  a  Restless  Age. 

What  was  the  upshot  of  the  controversy  suggested 
by  the  text?  Why,  the  sequel  was  that  the  corn- 
merchants  won  their  contention  and  forgot  the  trou- 
blesome moon-holidays  and  became  so  adept  at  sell- 
ing corn  that  the  Jew  the  world  over  is  known  as  a 
shrewd  financier.  But  there  is  also  another  sequel: 
God  kept  His  word — and  He  had  fairly  warned  them 
that  if  they  did  not  allow  the  land  to  enjoy  its  Sab- 
baths, He  would  deprive  them  of  their  land  and  send 
them  into  captivity — and  so  you  have  the  sorry  spec- 
tacle of  the  wandering  Jew,  a  traveller  up  and  down 
the  earth,  with  plenty  of  corn  but  nowhere  to  enjoy 
it.     Byron  in  his  Hebrew  Melodies  puts  it  well : 

"  The  wild  dove  hath  her  nest,  the  fox  his  cave, 
Mankind  their  country,  Israel  but  the  grave." 

There  is  something  very  pathetic  to  me  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Jews.  It  is  strange  to  see  their  stores 
closed  on  Saturday  and  open  on  Sunday — it  is  a  kind 
of  silent  protest  at  the  Christian  civilization  by  which 


106  COEN  AND  THE  NEW  MOON 

they  are  surrounded — a  kind  of  advertisement  of  the 
fact  that  they  don't  belong  here.  Now  I  raise  the 
question:  Shall  a  similar  fate  befall  us?  Shall 
America  find  herself  carried  into  captivity  because 
she  has  forgotten  to  rest  and  to  worship  the  eternal 
God  and  to  observe  His  New  Moons?  Be  not  de- 
ceived— God  is  not  mocked,  for  whatsoever  a  nation 
soweth,  that  shall  it  also  reap. 

I  know  no  better  example  to  follow  in  this  respect 
than  that  of  the  Man  of  Galilee.  He  lived  the  moon- 
lit life.  When  the  Sabbath  came,  He  went  as  His 
custom  was  into  the  synagogue  regularly  for  wor- 
ship. He  never  had  a  business  engagement  which 
interfered  with  the  church-service  hour.  He  planned 
His  days  with  reference  to  the  Moon.  This  country 
is  named  after  Him.  It  has  been  declared  a  Chris- 
tian country  by  the  highest  courts  in  the  land.  If 
this  means  anything,  it  surely  means  that  His  example 
shall  be  our  law — that  His  birthday  and  His  resurrec- 
tion day  shall  ever  be  held  in  memory  among  us. 

I  am  reminded  of  an  incident  at  sea.  There  were 
a  good  many  Jews  on  the  ship,  and  when  the  time 
came  for  the  Sunday  morning  service,  one  Jew  was 
heard  to  remark  that  he  was  not  going  to  take  his 
children  in  to  hear  the  story  of  Christ  read.  That 
evening  a  famous  tenor  sang  in  the  saloon.  The  Jew 
was  in  a  front  seat  with  his  children — and  behold, 
the  very  first  song  the  tenor  sang  was  Tennyson's 
great  prophecy  of  the  final  triumphant  reign  of 
Christ : 

"  Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, 
The  larger  heart,  the  kinSlier  hand ; 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land, 
Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be." 


VII 

THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

"And  Benhadad  the  king  of  Syria  escaped  on  a  horse  with 
the  horsemen." — i  EllNGS  20 :  20. 

HISTORY,  like  some  preachers  and  other 
folks,  is  fond  of  repeating  itself.  One  is 
surprised  that  it  has  so  little  inventive 
genius,  that  it  is  so  slow  to  discover  new  situations. 
Hence,  it  is  a  good  thing  in  these  days  to  read  over 
again  some  of  the  great  campaigns  of  the  old  Book, 
for  we  shall  discover  an  amazing  similarity  to  con- 
temporary events.  There  is  no  new  thing  under  the 
sun.  Whether  a  man  writes  a  poem,  or  gets  married, 
or  commits  suicide,  somebody  else  has  done  it  before 
him.  Dr.  Richards,  in  his  notable  sermon  on  "  The 
Monotony  of  Sin,"  represents  an  ancient  Babylonian 
being  taken  through  the  seamy  side  of  New  York 
life,  and  instead  of  being  charmed,  he  yawns  in  weari- 
ness and  exclaims  to  his  companion,  "  Why,  we  had 
all  this  in  Babylon  thousands  of  years  ago."  So  it 
is  that  when  a  man  starts  out  to  do  an  original  thing, 
whether  it  is  to  build  a  bridge  or  an  empire,  he  al- 
ways finds  that  somebody  else  has  been  to  the  patent 
office  before  him,  and  has  stolen  his  secret  and  copy- 
righted his  scheme.  Emerson  represents  Nature  as 
saying  to  an  excited  little  individual,  "  Why  so  hot, 
little  man  ?  "  as  much  as  to  say :  "  Don't  lose  your 
head  and  throw  your  transfer  away.    The  car  is  still 

107 


108       THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

on  the  track.  We  will  run  to  the  end  of  the  line. 
The  great  Motorman  is  still  in  charge.  The  con- 
ductor hasn't  gone  to  the  insane  asylum  yet.  Just 
possess  your  soul  in  peace." 

I  have  made  these  general  observations  by  way  of 
introduction  to  a  very  interesting  comparison  to 
which  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  this  morning.  As 
you  take  up  the  twentieth  chapter  of  i  Kings,  and 
read  it  through  verse  by  verse,  you  pause  time  and 
again  to  note  on  the  margin  the  modern  equivalent  of 
the  ancient  fact.  If  you  employ  the  method  of  the 
deadly  parallel,  you  feel  like  shaking  your  finger  at 
History  and  saying :  "  Look  here,  History,  you  have 
been  copying.  I  can  show  you  every  detail  in  an  old 
book  I  have.  Next  time,  try  to  be  more  original. 
Give  us  something  new."  So  I  shall  attempt  to  por- 
tray this  comparison  under  a  series  of  headings  as  we 
study  the  chapter  in  detail. 

/.  The  First  Thing  I  Notice  is  the  Grasping  Na- 
ture of  Autocracy. 

The  more  I  study  history,  the  less  love  I  think  Al- 
mighty God  has  for  kings.  As  I  read  of  Benhadad 
escaping  on  a  common  horse,  and  Napoleon  carried 
away  to  Elba,  and  Nicolas  Romanoff  carried  off  into 
exile  and  finally  shot,  and  William  Hohenzollern 
shifting  from  auto  to  train  and  from  train  to  auto  to 
escape  the  vengeance  of  an  outraged  people, — the 
more  I  believe  in  the  diminuendo  of  autocracy ;  for  it 
seems  to  be  a  characteristic  of  all  autocracy  to  reverse 
the  divinely  appointed  currents  of  life,  and  to  live  for 
self  instead  of  others.     Let  me  illustrate  this  proposi- 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS        109 

tion  by  tracing  for  a  moment  the  rise  of  the  Hebrew 
state. 

When  the  Israehtes  came  into  Canaan,  they 
brought  with  them  the  tribal  system  which  had  pre- 
vailed in  the  desert.  But  the  trouble  with  this  system 
was  that  the  tribes  were  hostile  one  to  another,  and 
there  was  no  concerted  action  against  the  Canaanite. 
At  the  utmost,  two  or  three  tribes  would  combine 
temporarily  for  a  common  aim,  and  then  fall  apart 
again.  Hence,  you  find  that  in  the  time  of  the 
Judges  the  conquest  of  the  promised  land  was  still 
incomplete.  These  Judges  were  thirteen  humble 
tribesmen  whom  the  Lord  raised  up  from  time  to  time 
to  represent  Him  in  the  nation,  and  so  they  were  both 
patriots  and  religious  reformers.  The  sixth  of  the 
Judges,  Gideon,  was  offered  the  throne  by  his  army 
after  his  victory  over  the  Midianites,  but  he  declined 
the  dignity,  saying  that  God  should  rule  over  them. 
The  thing  which  finally  forced  the  Jews  to  unite  was 
their  conquest  by  the  Philistines.  These  Philistines 
had  a  genius  for  organization,  and  with  their  compact 
federation  of  five  cities  were  more  than  a  match  for 
the  disorganized  Hebrews,  and  utterly  defeated  them 
in  the  battle  of  Ebenezer.  Then  comes  the  Prophet 
Samuel  to  the  rescue.  He  came  forward  as  a  leader 
in  whom  the  people  trusted  after  the  fatal  battle  of 
Ebenezer,  with  the  vision  of  deliverance  from  the 
Philistine  yoke  through  the  union  of  the  jealous  tribes 
under  the  rule  of  a  king.  The  selection  of  this  leader 
was  left  to  Samuel,  and  he  by  divine  direction  chose 
Saul  the  son  of  Kish.  The  effect  was  magical.  The 
leader  had  appeared,  and  all  the  Northern  tribes  ral- 


110        THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

lied  to  his  standard.  The  Amorites  were  beaten,  an3 
Saul  was  chosen  king  by  acclamation. 

Thus  began  the  monarchy  in  Israel.  Now  notice : 
While  it  freed  the  people  from  oppression  from  with- 
out, it  brought  the  new  peril  of  oppression  from 
within.  The  new  peril  was  the  abuse  of  autocratic 
power.  You  see  the  Hebrews  had  been  a  democratic 
people,  and  the  first  kings  were  slow  in  exercising 
authority.  Saul  had  little  more  power  than  one  of 
the  Judges.  The  earliest  kings  had  to  make  a  cove- 
nant with  the  elders  of  the  tribes  before  they  ascended 
the  throne.  Prophets  could  rebuke  the  king  without 
fear  of  violence.  But  little  by  little  the  spirit  of  au- 
tocracy began  to  manifest  itself.  Saul,  for  example, 
created  a  standing  army  of  picked  men  from  all  the 
tribes  in  place  of  the  old  tribal  militia.  Read  i  Sam- 
uel 14:  52 :  "  When  Saul  saw  any  strong  man  or  any 
valiant  man,  he  took  him  unto  himself."  David  went 
further,  and  added  foreign  mercenaries  to  this  stand- 
ing army.  In  the  time  of  Amos,  the  towns  had  to 
raise  a  levy  of  soldiers  in  proportion  to  their  popula- 
tion. The  elders  of  the  tribes  gradually  disappeared, 
and  in  their  place  there  grew  up  a  body  of  princes,  of 
whom  we  read  so  frequently  in  the  Old  Testament. 
These  princes  were  simply  a  bureaucracy  of  favourites 
appointed  by  the  king.  Thus  you  see  that  little  by 
little  the  kingship  of  the  Jews  began  to  assume  the 
character  of  an  Oriental  despotism. 

Does  not  this  all  sound  very  modern?  Did  you 
ever  suppose  that  the  rise  of  the  Hebrew  state  was  so 
similar  to  the  rise  of  modern  states  ?  There  are  five 
ways  in  which  the  abuse  of  autocracy  always  mani- 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS        111 

fests  itself,  and  these  appear  in  the  Good  Book  just 
as  they  do  in  the  Blue  Book  or  the  Yellow  Book  of 
the  twentieth  century.  Here  they  are:  The  love  of 
magnificence,  monopolies  of  trade,  oppressive  taxa- 
tion, deeds  of  violence,  and  a  lust  for  foreign  con- 
quest. The  last  of  these  five  is  the  point  of  compari- 
son now.  I  suppose  there  never  was  an  organization 
founded  for  defense,  but  was  later  used  for  offense. 
Samuel  would  have  turned  over  in  his  grave  if  he 
could  have  seen  what  was  to  come  after  him.  He 
wanted  to  unite  the  tribes  to  beat  off  the  foe ;  but  here 
we  find  that  as  soon  as  David  threw  off  the  Philistine 
yoke,  he  undertook  aggressive  campaigns  against  the 
Moabites,  Edomites,  Ammonites,  and  others.  This 
is  a  fact  that  seems  to  go  with  autocracy  everywhere. 
It  is  never  satisfied  with  its  place  in  the  sun.  It  al- 
ways wants  to  own  its  neighbour's  vine  and  fig-tree. 
So  we  find  it  here  in  this  twentieth  chapter  of  i  Kings. 
Look  at  the  historical  situation  for  a  moment.  I 
remember  hearing  Elbert  Hubbard  say :  "  It  is  not 
true  that  competition  is  the  life  of  trade.  Coopera- 
tion is  the  life  of  trade."  This  is  true  of  nations  as 
well.  Now,  if  Benhadad  and  his  thirty-two  allies  had 
been  as  sharp  as  they  should  have  been,  they  would 
have  known  that  it  was  a  suicidal  policy  to  attack 
Israel ;  for  Assyria  was  menacing  them  all  on  the 
north,  and  instead  of  fighting  the  Jews  they  should 
have  formed  a  League  of  Nations,  a  great  alliance 
against  the  Assyrian  power.  The  prophets  saw  this 
'  and  told  the  kings  so,  but  the  kings  contemptuously 
said :  "  You  can't  expect  a  lot  of  preachers  to  know 
anything  about  politics.     Let  them  go  on  back  to  their 


112        THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

prayer-meetings.  Forward,  march !  "  And  so  they 
went  ahead  on  their  bHnd  scheme.  Benhadad,  like 
some  other  monarchs,  wasn't  satisfied  to  let  well 
enough  alone.  He  invaded  his  neighbour's  territory, 
and  thus  signed  the  declaration  of  war,  and  hostilities 
began.  Ahab  knew  he  could  not  meet  the  vast  army 
in  the  field,  and  so  he  shut  himself  up  in  Samaria,  and 
the  siege  commenced.  In  precisely  the  same  spirit, 
William  II  declared  war  on  an  unprepared  world  on 
August  I,  1914,  and  the  siege  of  four  and  a  quarter 
years  began. 

//.  /  Notice  in  the  Second  Place  the  Courage  of 
the  Coward. 

I  have  always  wondered  what  Dr.  Aked's  sermon 
on  this  theme  was  about.  I  have  never  read  it,  but  I 
have  read  an  illustration  of  thatr  very  thing  in  the 
case  of  Ahab.  Now  Ahab  was  a  man  whose  wife 
was  of  the  masculine  gender,  and  he  was  of  the 
feminine  gender.  You  have  to  remember  that  in 
parsing  Ahab:  proper  noun,  third  person,  feminine 
gender,  and  very  singular  number.  He  was  an  odd 
number,  because  being  a  man  myself,  I  decline  to 
believe  he  is  one  of  us.  Mrs.  Ahab  was  Mrs.  Pank- 
hurst  and  the  whole  woman  suffrage  movement  rolled 
into  one  personality.  Mrs.  Ahab  had  converted  her 
husband  to  unchristian  science:  he  became  a  Baal- 
worshipper;  and  of  course  when  a  man  turns  his  back 
on  God,  he  doesn't  have  much  to  rely  on  in  case  of  a 
siege  or  anything  else.  The  other  evening  as  I  lay 
awake  in  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  all  alone  in  the 
big  house  in  which  I  live,  I  thought  how  little  was 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS        113 

between  me  and  the  outside  world :  in  one  vulnerable 
place,  nothing  but  two  little  screw-eyes  through  which 
a  padlock  had  been  passed.  But  a  second  thought 
came,  and  that  was :  "  No,  there  is  the  padlock,  plus 
the  hand  of  God ;  there  is  more  between  me  and  the 
world  than  I  know."  It  is  that  infinite  Plus  that  pro- 
tects God's  children.  But  Ahab  had  no  Plus.  He 
had  nothing  but  the  walls  of  Samaria,  and  they  were 
very  weak. 

Hear  the  words  of  the  ultimatum.  Up  to  the 
locked  gate  of  the  city  a  herald  came  to  demand  ad- 
mission for  the  ambassadors  of  Benhadad.  Their 
ultimatum  was  given  in  words  of  deepest  insult.  The 
Syrian  demanded  everything.  When  an  Oriental 
king  had  to  give  to  his  conqueror  all  the  women  of 
his  seraglio,  even  his  own  queen,  he  certainly  was 
humbled  in  the  dust.  Belgium  was  summoned  to  do 
practically  the  same  thing,  but  she  refused  to  do  it, 
and  the  world  cheers  Albert  of  Belgium  as  much  as 
it  abhors  Ahab ;  for  Ahab  said :  "  At  your  service, 
Benhadad ;  all  that  I  have  is  thine." 

Will  you  notice  here  in  passing  that  our  false  Baals 
never  save  us  ?  Look  at  this  pitiable  woman,  Jezebel. 
Why,  her  father  was  a  priest  of  Astarte,  and  she  had 
built  a  temple  to  Baal,  and  had  given  an  endowment 
which  supported  850  priests  of  Baal,  and  they  with 
all  their  pompous  ceremonies  and  blood-stained  invo- 
cations had  wholly  failed  to  save  her.  And  I  can 
fancy  that  she  and  her  husband  had  a  little  prayer- 
meeting  in  the  palace  after  the  ambassador  of  Assyria 
went  away,  and  the  refrain  of  their  prayers  might 
have  been,  "  O  Baal,  hear  us !    O  Baal,  save  us !    De- 


114       THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

liver  us  from  the  terms  of  a  humiliating  peace."  So 
the  "  good  old  German  God  "  on  whom  our  enemies 
relied  was  merely  a  Baal  of  their  own  manufacture, 
and  they  learned  too  late  that  Baal  never  saves. 

But  hark!  Here  comes  a  second  Lusitania  note. 
Another  embassy  comes  from  Benhadad,  which  posts 
a  notice  of  warning  saying  that  to-morrow  (twenty- 
four  hours'  notice)  the  town  will  be  given  up  to  pil- 
lage. Here  the  coward  king  rises  to  the  occasion 
with  the  courage  of  despair.  He  becomes  suddenly 
very  democratic  in  the  time  of  reverses.  We  get  an 
interesting  bit  of  information  here  about  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Kingdom  of  Israel.  It  was  very  much 
like  that  of  the  little  Greek  states  in  the  days  of  the 
Iliad.  In  prosperity  the  king  was  nearly  despotic, 
but  when  things  went  against  him  he  was  reduced  to 
the  necessity  of  calling  an  open-air  senate,  composed 
of  his  elders  and  attended  by  the  people  as  well.  The 
king  laid  the  desperate  situation  before  this  council, 
just  as  the  pastor  often  lays  a  difficulty  before  his 
elders,  for  the  benefit  of  their  advice.  They  rein- 
force Ahab's  backbone,  stiffening  it  up,  and  send  back 
a  curt  refusal  of  the  foreigner's  request.  So  the 
second  scene  of  the  drama  ends. 

///.  The  Third  Thing  I  Notice  is  Pre-Christian 
Diplomacy. 

I  do  not  know  how  far  back  the  science  of  Dip- 
lomacy goes.  I  suppose  the  custom  of  interchanging 
notes  and  messages  between  nations  is  as  ancient  as 
the  human  race  Itself.  But  these  notes  have  not  al- 
ways meant  just  what  they  have  said,  and  so  Diplo- 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS        115 

macy  has  come  to  mean  a  roundabout,  tactful  way  of 
stating  a  matter,  which  may  have  to  be  discounted 
before  it  can  be  exchanged  into  direct  cash  value.  It 
ought  to  have  been  true  that  the  coming  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  teachings  made  an  epoch  in  the 
science  of  Diplomacy,  and  Christian  Diplomacy  ought 
to  stand  for  directness  and  fair  dealing.  It  waited 
for  the  Great  War,  however,  to  bring  this  about. 
There  is  an  outstanding  example  of  it,  nevertheless,  a 
few  years  back,  which  anticipated  the  present  hour. 
In  1899,  when  China  was  in  the  midst  of  the  agonies 
pending  the  Boxer  Rebellion,  the  nations  of  Europe 
stood  looking  on  with  eager  eyes,  hoping  for  its  dis- 
memberment, that  they  might  each  secure  a  slice. 
Our  great  John  Hay,  you  remember,  addressed  to 
those  eager  observers  his  famous  note  of  September 
9,  1899,  in  which  he  stated  that  the  United  States 
stood  for  fair  play  in  China,  and  called  on  any  other 
nation  which  did  not  agree  with  this  to  say  so,  or 
stand  committed  to  the  same  policy.  The  nations 
stood  dumbfounded,  and  wondered  what  trick  was 
behind  the  words.  No  nation  had  the  courage  to 
stand  up  and  admit  it  was  a  thief,  and  so  Hay  closed 
the  matter  with  another  note,  in  which  he  accepted 
their  silent  acquiescence  as  "  final  and  definite." 
They  spoke  of  this  in  Europe  as  "  shirt-sleeve  dip- 
lomacy." I  like  the  term.  It  sounds  like  directness, 
and  the  open  covenants  for  which  President  Wilson 
pleads  to-day. 

Notice,  then,  an  early  Illustration  of  "  shirt-sleeve 
diplomacy  "  in  these  pre-Christian  days  of  Ahab  and 
Benhadad.    There  was  an  exchange  of  just  two  notes 


116       THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

— one  each;  and  as  Billy  Sunday  says,  you  did  not 
have  to  lug  a  dictionary  along  to  understand  what  the 
two  kings  meant.  Benhadad's  note  was  this :  "  The 
gods  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  the  dust  of  Sa- 
maria shall  suffice  for  handfuls  for  all  the  people  that 
follow  me."  In  other  words :  "  I  will  bring  with  me 
such  an  army  that  after  your  city  is  shattered  into 
dust,  there  won't  be  a  handful  for  each  of  my  sol- 
diers." Do  you  know  what  that  reminds  me  of  ?  It 
reminds  me  of  a  certain  haughty  brute  who  said  to 
Mr.  Gerard,  "  I  will  not  stand  any  nonsense  from 
America  after  this  war."  Well,  we  didn't  ask  him  to 
stand  any.  These  two  scenes  together  suggest  to  me 
a  certain  verse  of  a  good  old  Book  I  sometimes  read ; 
"  Pride  goeth  before  destruction,  and  a  haughty  spirit 
before  a  fall."  And  any  time  you  want  an  illustra- 
tion of  that  Scripture  text,  get  the  picture  of  that 
braggart  of  Berlin  who  would  not  stand  any  non- 
sense, fleeing  for  his  life  from  the  taunts  of  a  cursing 
world. 

Let  us  notice  Ahab's  reply.  He  simply  said :  "  Do 
you  remember,  Benhadad,  a  little  proverb  which  runs 
something  like  this  ?  *  Let  not  him  that  girdeth  on  his 
harness  boast  himself  as  he  that  putteth  it  off.' "  In 
other  words,  as  the  English  has  it,  "  Praise  a  fair  day 
at  night."  Or,  as  the  Latin  puts  it,  "  Don't  sing  the 
triumph  song  until  you  win  the  victory."  Or,  as  the 
French  say  it,  "  Don't  sell  the  bear  skin  before  you 
kill  the  bear."  Once  again,  as  the  wise  old  Book  puts 
it :  "  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow,  for  thou  know- 
est  hot  what  a  day  may  bring  forth."  We  have  the 
same  idea  in  mind  when  we  say,  "  Man  proposes,  but 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS        117 

God  disposes."  Oh,  my  hearers,  what  a  world  of 
difference  there  is  between  the  man  who  exclaims  in 
boastful  pride,  "  I  am  going  to  do  so  and  so,"  and 
the  other  who  humbly  says,  "  If  the  Lord  will,  my 
plans  are  such  and  such."  The  men  who  built  the 
Tower  of  Babel  left  God  out.  The  king  who  was 
going  to  grind  Samaria  to  the  dust  left  God  out.  The 
Emperor  from  Corsica  w^ho  was  going  to  rule  the 
world  left  God  out.  And  finally,  the  man  who 
mapped  the  Berlin  to  Bagdad  railway  left  God  out. 
Beware  of  any  scheme  which  side-tracks  the  Almighty 
and  rushes  ahead  on  its  own  steam  to  the  lands  be- 
yond. There  will  be  a  head-on  collision  with  Failure 
soon  or  late.  The  disaster  may  be  a  few  days  or  four 
years  up  the  track,  but  in  any  case  it  is  there. 

IV.  The  Fourth  Point  of  Interest  is  the  Interven- 
tion of  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

One  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  late  war  said,  "  Bat- 
tles are  won  by  moral  forces."  I  think  it  was  Napo- 
leon who  said,  "  It  is  the  incalculable  element  which 
wins  or  loses  a  battle."  So  at  Waterloo,  there  was 
just  a  little  declivity  in  the  ground  which  the  French 
engineers  had  overlooked.  So  when  all  is  said  and 
done,  when  we  have  picked  our  men,  and  mapped  our 
ground,  and  assigned  each  general  to  his  place,  there 
is  still  the  element  of  "  chance,"  some  call  it,  but  we 
prefer  the  word  "  God."  God  Almighty,  my  friends, 
is  not  confined  to  cathedrals  or  cloisters.  Believe  me, 
God  was  just  as  hard  at  work  at  the  first  and  second 
Mame,  and  at  Verdun  and  Metz,  as  the  busiest  sol- 
diers there.     But  because  the  enemy  could  not  see 


118       THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

Him,  they  discounted  Him.  A  captive  German  sol- 
dier displayed  a  medal  sent  out  from  the  German 
high  command,  which  had  certain  insignia  on  it,  and 
then  these  words :  "  You  will  not  have  to  give  an  ac- 
count in  the  Day  of  Judgment  for  anything  you  do  in 
the  service  of  your  country."  These  blasphemous 
and  impious  authorities  actually  set  themselves  in  the 
place  of  God,  and  presumed  to  grant  absolution  from 
their  blood-stained  hands  for  all  wrong  done  for  the 
sake  of  the  Fatherland.  "  Be  not  deceived ;  God  is 
not  mocked ;  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he 
also  reap."  "  Vengeance  is  mine ;  I  will  repay,  saith 
the  Lord." 

To  return  to  our  story,  God  stepped  into  the  breach. 
I  know  Ahab  trembled  when  the  'phone  rang  and 
Central  said :  "  There's  a  long-distance  message  for 
you;  a  prophet  of  the  Lord  wants  to  speak  to  you." 
Now,  here  is  something  very  beautiful,  my  friends; 
let  us  get  it :  a  touching  glimpse  into  the  Father  heart 
of  our  forgiving  God.  Ahab  had  no  reason  to  expect 
anything  from  a  God  he  had  discarded  long  since,  and 
so  I  fancy  he  looked  for  a  message  of  hate.  But,  in- 
stead, here  at  the  eleventh  hour,  with  only  a  few  more 
hours  of  grace  before  the  assault  began,  God  sends 
this  word:  "  Hast  thou  seen  all  this  great  multitude? 
I  will  deliver  it  into  thine  hand  this  day,  and  thou 
shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  Ah,  my  friends,  I 
believe  that  one  of  those  days  when  "  Christ's  gray 
General,"  Ferdinand  Foch,  knelt  in  humble  prayer  in 
some  little  church  in  northern  France,  this  same 
heartening  word  came  to  him:  "  Seest  thou  this  ter- 
rible enemy?    Be  of  good  cheer.    Lo,  I  am  with  you 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KIls^GS        119 

always,  and  they  shall  not  pass.  They  might  get  by 
you,  Foch,  but  they  shall  never  get  by  Me.  They 
shall  not  pass." 

I  say,  thank  God  for  that  nameless  preacher.  We 
do  not  know  who  the  prophet  was.  The  Rabbis  al- 
ways guess  at  a  name  when  they  can,  and  they  say  it 
was  Micaiah.  We  care  not.  The  interesting  thing 
is,  that  nothing  will  so  preserve  a  people's  morale  as 
confidence  in  a  Supreme  Being  who  watches  while 
they  sleep,  and  fights  while  they  are  weary,  and 
guards  them  through  the  night.  And  so  I  believe 
that  when  the  history  of  the  recent  years  is  written 
up,  that  among  the  agencies  which  will  be  counted  as 
helping  to  win  the  victory,  some  little  place  will  be 
given  to  the  prophets  of  God,  who  stood  at  their  post, 
and  tried  to  keep  up  the  courage  of  their  people  by 
saying :  "  Have  faith  in  God.  Do  your  best,  and 
leave  it  to  Him." 

But  God  always  works  through  means,  and  the 
very  first  question  which  leaps  to  Ahab's  lips  is,  "  By 
whom  ?  "  "  You  say,  God  is  pledged  to  win  this  vic- 
tory. Very  well,  where  are  the  soldiers  to  do  it? 
We  cannot  fold  our  hands  and  leave  it  all  to  Him." 
The  answer  is,  even  as  it  was  in  America :  "  By  the 
young  men."  We  are  not  told  what  the  draft  age 
was,  but  we  know  that  the  young  servants  of  the 
provincial  governors  came  to  the  rescue  in  place  of 
the  old  veterans  who  had  no  faith  in  such  a  foolish 
venture. 

V.     This  Brings  Us  fo  the  Battle  Itself. 

God  is  a  wonderful  mathematician.    He  figures  up 


120       THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

His  assets  and  His  liabilities,  and  time  and  again  His 
men  have  gone  into  battle  when  there  was  not  a 
chance  in  the  world  for  them,  except  as  He  stood  at 
the  weakest  place. 

"  He  turns  the  arrow  that  else  might  harm, 
And  out  of  the  storm  He  brings  a  calm ; 
And  the  work  that  seems  so  hard  to  do, 
He  makes  it  easy,  for  He  works  too." 

Look  at  the  assets  and  liabilities  here.  Look  at  the 
Central  Powers  vs.  the  Allies.  The  Syrians  had 
130,000  men,  directed  by  thirty-five  kings,  equipped 
with  catapults  and  battering  rams,  scaling  ladders  and 
archers,  such  as  we  have  seen  pictures  of  in  the  sculp- 
tures of  Sennacherib's  time.  Very  well:  how  many 
did  the  Allies  of  God  have?  There  were  232  pages, 
(young  men  who  waited  on  the  district  governors)  in 
the  van,  and  a  paltry  army  of  7,000  soldiers  who 
marched  out  of  the  gate  of  Samaria  to  the  desperate 
undertaking. 

Ahab's  plan  of  campaign  was  well  thought  out. 
They  left  the  city  at  noon.  At  that  burning  hour, 
under  the  intolerable  heat  of  the  Syrian  sun,  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  bear  the  weight  of  armour,  or  to 
sit  on  horseback,  or  to  endure  the  fierce  heat  of  iron 
chariots.  The  Syrian  soldiers  would  be  taking  their 
noonday  siesta,  and  their  chariots  and  war-steeds 
would  be  unprepared.  Benhadad  and  his  kings  were 
in  the  midst  of  a  drunken  revel,  when  the  lookout  an- 
nounced that  there  were  some  men  Avho  had  come  out 
of  the  city  gates.  They  were  not  a  respectable 
enough  number  to  call  it  an  army,  and  the  idea  of 
an  attack  by  that  handful  seemed  ridiculous.     Simi- 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS        121 

larly,  there  was  a  time  when  the  American  boys  were 
laughed  at,  but  somehow  that  has  passed.  And  so 
the  drunken  king's  command  was,  "  Take  them  alive, 
whether  they  come  to  fight  or  ask  terms  of  peace." 

Here  is  a  sermon  on  Preparedness.  The  Syrians 
were  not  ready  for  an  attack.  The  little  band  dashed 
into  the  midst  of  the  drunken,  sleepy  crowd.  One 
explanation  of  Waterloo  is,  that  Napoleon  was  over- 
come by  exhaustion  and  loss  of  sleep,  and  gave  con- 
trary orders  without  knowing  it.  The  Syrian  kings 
probably  did  that  also,  and  one  of  those  fearful  panics 
was  created  which  have  often  been  the  destruction  of 
Eastern  hosts.  A  United  States  officer  told  me  that 
his  experience  was,  German  soldiers  were  all  right 
so  long  as  their  commanders  were  with  them.  But 
when  the  battle  lines  became  broken  and  the  officers 
lost,  the  men  had  no  initiative  of  their  own.  The 
same  thing  was  true  here,  and  those  who  are  prone  to 
doubt  this  story  will  only  need  to  read  a  little  into 
Oriental  history  to  see  that  the  Oriental  loses  his  head 
in  a  panic,  and  that  scores  of  battles  have  been  lost 
for  that  very  reason.  And  so  the  panic  became  a 
rout,  and  the  Israelites  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  slay, 
and  long  before  evening  they  were  masters  of  the 
field. 

And  now  comes  the  text :  "  And  Benhadad,  the 
king  of  Syria,  escaped  on  an  horse  with  the  horse- 
men." The  king  had  a  very  narrow  escape.  He 
could  not  even  wait  for  his  chariot.  He  had  to  fly 
with  a  few  of  his  cavalry,  and  apparently  escaped  on 
an  inferior  horse.  This  is  the  plight  of  a  man  who  a 
few  hours  before  had  said  he  would  crush  Samaria 


122       THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

into  fragments.  Does  it  remind  you  of  anything  in 
recent  days?  Does  that  fleeing  monarch,  spurring 
his  horse  on  into  the  dusk  of  that  Syrian  day,  have 
any  resemblance  to  a  certain  European,  dashing  with 
a  handful  of  followers  in  a  closed  automobile  out  of 
his  own  city  over  the  border,  to  be  interned  as  a 
public  nuisance  in  a  castle,  where  he  could  await  the 
sentence  of  outraged  law  ? 

President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  told  the  stu- 
dents of  Columbia  University  that  the  most  signifi- 
cant statement  he  had  heard  the  summer  the  war 
broke  out  in  Europe,  was  made  to  him  on  the  third 
day  of  August  by  a  German  railway  servant,  a  vet- 
eran of  the  Franco-Prussian  War.  Dr.  Butler  asked 
him  whether  he  would  have  to  go  to  the  front.  The 
old  man  said :  "  No,  I  am  too  old.  I  am  seventy-two. 
But  my  four  sons  went  yesterday — God  help  them. 
And  I  hate  to  have  them  go;  for,  sir,"  he  added  in 
a  lower  voice,  "this  is  not  a  people's  war;  it  is  a 
kings'  war,  and  when  it  is  over  there  may  not  be  so 
many  kings."  It  rather  looks  as  though  the  old  vet- 
eran was  a  pretty  good  prophet,  does  it  not  ?  Emer- 
son's words  come  back  to  us  with  new  meaning 
these  days : 

"  God  said,  *  I  am  tired  of  kings, 
I  sufifer  them  no  more; 
Up  to  my  ears  each  morning  brings 
The  outrage  of  the  poor.'  " 

VI.  Finally,  We  Come  to  the  Question:  After 
Victory,  What? 

Many  people  talked  as  though  the  Millennium 
would  come  as  soon  as  the  Allies  won  the  war.    Most 


THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS        123 

of  us  knew  better  than  that.  Every  peace  yet  made 
in  the  world's  history  has  had  in  it  the  seed  of  future 
wars,  and  if  this  peace  is  to  be  an  exception  it  has 
got  to  be  a  new  kind  of  peace.  How  suggestive  is 
the  warning  which  comes  to  the  victorious  king  in  the 
story  before  us !  The  same  unnamed  prophet  who 
encouraged  him  in  the  darkest  hour  now  warns  him 
in  the  brightest  hour.  The  same  preacher  who  stead- 
ied him  in  defeat  now  steadies  him  in  victory.  He 
says  in  substance :  "  Now  be  careful,  Ahab.  Don't 
lose  your  head.  All  is  not  won  yet.  The  Assyrians 
will  surely  return  next  year.  Look  well  to  your  mar- 
gin and  reserves.  Begin  now  to  prepare  yourself  for 
the  coming  conflict."  While  we  do  not  need  to  say 
the  same  thing  to  the  State,  it  is  well  for  the  Church 
to  perform  the  same  duty  as  the  ancient  prophet ;  viz., 
to  steady  the  State  in  its  hour  of  victory,  for  we  all 
know  the  perils  of  reaction.  Success  is  a  very  hard 
thing  to  stand.  I  remember  often  hearing  my  father 
say:  "Dick  is  just  like  most  Christians:  he  can't 
stand  prosperity."  Dick  was  my  father's  high- 
blooded  horse,  and  when  he  would  be  allowed  to  rest 
up  a  few  days  he  would  become  so  high  and  mighty 
that  it  was  hard  to  hold  him  to  the  earth,  and  my 
father  would  say :  "  Dick  is  like  most  Christians :  he 
can't  stand  prosperity."  It  remains  for  us  to  show 
the  world  that  by  God's  grace  we  can  win  and  yet  be 
gentlemen. 

The  Church  must  insist  on  our  being  more  than 
conquerors.  Three  alternatives  once  lay  before  us: 
Defeat,  Victory,  Super- Victory.  The  first  was  im- 
possible, for  defeat  was  not  to  be  our  portion.     Well, 


124       THE  TWILIGHT  OF  THE  KINGS 

what  about  the  second  ?  Shall  we  be  satisfied  with  a 
mere  victory  on  the  field  of  battle  ?  No,  we  must  in- 
sist on  nothing  less  than  the  third — super-victory. 
Americans  can  be  conquerors,  but  it  takes  Christians 
to  be  more  than  conquerors.  The  difference  between 
the  State  and  the  Church  is  this:  The  State  wins  a 
war  when  it  administers  a  military  defeat.  The 
Church  of  Christ  never  wins  until  it  has  changed  the 
heart  and  mind  of  the  enemy.  We  have  done  the  first 
thing.  We  have  arrested  the  prisoner.  Now  let  us 
reform  him  if  possible. 
The  Church  of  God  can,  in  the  words  of  Tennyson : 

"  Cling  to  faith  beyond  the  forms  of  faith — 
She  reels  not  in  the  storm  of  warring  worlds, 
She  brightens  at  the  clash  of  Yes  and  No, 
She  sees  the  best  that  glimmers  through  the  worst. 
She  feels  the  sun  is  hid  but  for  a  night, 
She  spies  the  summer  through  the  winter  bud, 
She  finds  the  fountain  where  they  wailed  *  Mirage ! ' " 


VIII 

THE  WAY  OF  CAIN 

"  IVoe  unto  them!  For  they,  have  gone  in  the  way  of 
Com."— JuDE  II. 

CAIN  is  an  interesting  character  to  me.  He 
was  the  pioneer  of  the  race,  for  while  his 
father  and  mother  were  created,  he  was  born. 
He  hved  in  those  raw  days  when  men  wore  skins  and 
lived  the  simple  life.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  refine- 
ments and  the  restraints  of  modern  civilization;  but 
he  lived  out  in  the  open  like  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
and  when  he  became  angry  he  shed  blood,  without 
any  idea  of  the  preciousness  of  a  human  life.  Polite 
society  meant  nothing  to  him,  and  police  were  an  un- 
known race.  Rude  citizen  of  the  early  days  that  he 
was,  he  has  his  lessons  for  the  twentieth  century  man. 

I  wonder  how  that  first  father  and  mother  watched 
the  unfolding  of  the  little  life,  which  must  have  meant 
so  much  to  them.  I  wonder  if  they  never  dreamed 
as  they  watched  the  tiny  fingers  that  those  hands 
would  be  laid  in  bloodshed  on  his  brother's  head.  I 
wonder  if  they  saw  destiny  written  on  his  brow  and 
dreamed  dreams  of  empire  for  their  babe.  We  can- 
not tell,  but  we  know  that  the  eternal  fascination  and 
mystery  of  childhood  must  have  held  them  spellbound 
as  they  watched  the  bud  of  promise  open  into  the 
flower  of  fulfillment. 

Well,  the  story  tells  us  that  in  process  of  time, 

I2S 


126  THE  WAY  OF  CAIN 

Cain  ceased  to  have  things  all  his  own  way,  for  a 
brother  was  born ;  and  Cain  began  to  learn  that  some- 
body else  had  some  rights  which  he  must  respect.  I 
do  not  know  how  long  he  was  an  only  child,  but  I 
can't  help  imagining  that  this  youngster  was  spoiled 
and  that  he  had  begun  to  imagine  that  the  sun  and 
moon  and  stars  were  built  for  his  benefit.  You  know 
when  that  state  of  affairs  comes  to  pass,  somebody 
must  learn  a  lesson — and  Cain  learnt  his  with  a  bitter 
experience. 

Picture  the  two  brothers,  the  one  at  work  in  his 
fiela  and  the  other  tending  his  sheep.  Imagine  a  rude 
altar  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  house,  and 
I  watch  the  two  men  as  they  come  to  make  their  offer- 
ings. Cain  brings  some  of  his  fruit,  giving  what  he 
had;  and  Abel  brought  the  firstlings  of  his  flock.  It 
looks  as  though  the  Almighty  would  have  been  con- 
tent with  this,  since  each  man  gave  of  what  he  had, — 
but  look  again.  God  turns  away  from  the  fruit  with 
disapproval  but  accepts  the  burnt  offering  of  the 
cattle-dealer.  The  farmer  Cain  is  not  used  to  such 
treatment  as  this — and  he  proposes  to  show  his 
brother  that  his  feelings  cannot  be  hurt  with  impunity. 

One  thing  that  appeals  to  me  about  that  early  civili- 
zation is  that  men  were  honest.  In  modern  life  we 
cloak  our  feelings  and  smother  our  aches  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  becomes  difficult  to  find  the  grain  be- 
neath the  varnish.  Oh,  for  less  varnish  and  more 
plain  reality !  Cain  showed  his  hurt  plainly  and  God 
talked  with  him  about  it,  but  he  still  nursed  his  grudge 
and  waited  for  his  chance.  Abel  presumably  did  not 
go  armed  to  his  sheepfold,  for  his  sheep  were  tracta- 


THE  WAY  OF  CAIN  127 

able  and  he  had  no  enemies.  But  one  day  he  saw  his 
brother  approaching  with  evil  in  his  eye — and  after  a 
few  hot  words,  he  felt  the  sting  of  a  brother's  anger 
and  the  blow  of  a  brother's  murderous  hand.  His 
hot  blood  fell  upon  the  ground  and  he  soon  lay  cold 
in  death.     The  first  murder  was  over. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  in  detail  the  rest  of  the 
story  at  this  point.  I  have  simply  tried  to  put  before 
you  the  tragic  case  of  the  first  two  brothers,  in  order 
that  we  may  follow  intelligently  the  way  of  Cain,  as 
he  falls  out  with  his  brother  and  his  God  and  ulti- 
mately his  own  soul.  Looking  down  the  roadway, 
we  discover  four  outstanding  mile-posts  in  the  way 
that  he  followed,  and  these  shall  be  our  halting-places 
for  a  few  moments  to-day. 

/.     The  Way  of  Heresy. 

Cain  was  the  first  heretic.  All  heresy  trials  go 
back  to  him.  All  the  long  role  of  unbelievers  and 
non-conformists  and  free-thinkers  ought  to  honour 
him  as  their  patron  saint.  It  has  been  a  sorry  his- 
tory, this  story  of  men  who  couldn't  accept  God's 
way,  but  insisted  that  their  own  was  better. 

Now,  what  was  the  heresy  of  Cain  ?  I  admit  that, 
as  you  look  casually  at  the  narrative,  and  see  that 
each  of  the  men  brings  his  offering  out  of  what  he 
had  (Cain  bringing  fruit,  because  he  was  a  farmer, 
and  Abel  bringing  an  animal  because  he  was  a  herds- 
man) it  looks  as  though  the  Almighty  were  partial  in 
accepting  the  one  and  rejecting  the  other.  But  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  can  be  trusted  to  do  right,  and 
the  longer  we  look,  the  more  do  we  see  that  there 


128  THE  WAY  OF  CAIN 

must  be  an  underlying  justice  in  this  apparent  caprice. 
Again,  I  ask  therefore,  what  was  the  heresy  of  Cain  ? 
Let  us  see : 

If  we  turn  to  the  great  honour-roll  of  faith  heroes 
in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews,  we  find  Abel 
mentioned  as  the  first  hero  of  faith  in  the  Bible  and 
we  read :  "  By  faith  Abel  offered  unto  God  a  more 
excellent  sacrifice  than  Cain."  Now  what  is  faith? 
Faith  is,  in  its  simplest  analysis,  taking  God  at  His 
word.  Accordingly,  we  infer  that  there  must  have 
been  a  previous  instruction  to  Adam  and  his  sons, 
that  they  must  approach  God  through  sacrifice, 
through  the  price  of  blood.  And  so  you  observe  that 
when  God  rebukes  Cain  and  makes  a  last  plea  to  him 
He  shows  him  plainly  that  there  is  a  way  which  is 
pleasing  to  Him.  "  Why  is  thy  countenance  fallen  ? 
If  thou  doest  well,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted?  And 
if  thou  doest  not  well,  a  sin-offering  croucheth  down 
at  the  tent-door."  Take  the  old  translation,  if  you 
will :  "  sin  lieth  at  the  door."  God  wants  to  show 
Cain  that  the  thing  which  separates  between  Him  and 
man  is  sin — and  that  the  acceptable  sacrifice  is  a  liv- 
ing atonement  for  sin. 

We  are  prepared  now  to  answer  our  question: 
Cain  had  no  adequate  sense  of  sin  in  his  religion. 
His  theology  had  not  a  stain  of  blood  in  it.  There 
was  no  awful  curse  and  no  crying  need  of  forgive- 
ness. Sin  was  a  word  which  had  no  place  in  his  vo- 
cabulary— perhaps  he  thought  it  vulgar.  Of  course, 
he  made  mistakes  and  he  was  conscious  of  something 
wrong  now  and  then,  but  he  had  no  feeling  of  the 
justice  of  a  holy  God.     He  expected  to  be  saved  by 


THE  WAY  OF  CAIN  129 

the  work  of  his  own  hands  and  so  these  fruits  which 
he  had  cultivated  must  be  his  saviours,  if  any  were 
needed. 

My  brethren,  there  are  a  good  many  Cainites  to- 
day, ahhough  we  do  not  call  them  such.  They  never 
have  a  Cross  on  their  church.  They  never  mention 
the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin.  They  never  sing  that 
hymn :  "  Dear,  dying  Lamb,  Thy  precious  blood  shall 
never  lose  its  power."  They  never  have  a  mourners' 
bench  where  men  ci"y  for  forgiveness,  and  they  never 
build  a  city  mission  where  tramps  and  bums  can  find 
a  Saviour  who  makes  them  all  over  again  new.  No, 
they  rather  agree  with  ex-President  Eliot  and  they 
adopt  his  new  religion.  But  it  is  humorous  to  call 
that  twentieth  century  suggestion  a  new  religion,  be- 
cause it  goes  all  the  way  back  to  Cain — and  that  is  a 
good  ways  back. 

I  have  been  reading  recently  some  of  the  literature 
of  the  Reformation  time;  and  one  is  impressed  with 
the  awful  sense  of  sin  which  those  men  had.  It  is 
quite  refreshing  to  turn  from  the  placidity  of  the 
twentieth  century  to  the  agony  of  the  sixteenth, — and 
while,  of  course,  the  idea  of  penance  and  punishment 
may  be  carried  to  unwarranted  extremes,  yet  one 
wonders  as  between  liberalism  and  fanaticism,  if  the 
former  may  not  be  more  dangerous  than  the  latter. 
When  Martin  Luther  lay  on  his  bed  of  sickness,  a 
monk  repeated  the  creed  by  his  bedside ;  and  when  he 
came  to  the  phrase  "  I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,"  there  sprang  up  in  the  heart  of  the  future  re- 
former the  light  which  led  him  on  his  way  through 
the  stormy  days  ahead.     So  with  Myconius,  another 


130  THE  WAY  OF  CAIN 

of  the  reformers,  who  said  to  his  son,  "  The  blood  of 
Christ  is  the  only  ransom  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 
O  my  son,  though  three  men  only  should  be  saved  by 
Christ's  blood,  believe  that  thou  art  one  of  those 
three."  And  so,  I  believe  that  another  great  revival 
or  reformation  would  sweep  the  Church,  brethren,  if 
we  could  get  men  to  crying  to  God  for  mercy  and  for 
deliverance  from  their  sins.  But  of  course,  if  there 
is  nothing  to  be  saved  from,  there  is  no  need  of  a  Sa- 
viour. And  if  there  is  no  need  of  a  Saviour,  there  is 
no  use  in  joining  a  church  which  is  named  after  His 
name. 

//.     The  Way  of  Murder. 

Cain  was  the  first  murderer.  All  assassins  and 
traitors  and  lynchers  who  have  taken  the  law  into 
their  own  hands,  look  up  to  him  as  their  patron  saint. 
He  first  taught  men  to  let  their  passions  get  the  better 
of  judgment  and  to  let  anger  have  its  way.  Every 
anarchist  and  every  lawless  mob  is  but  following 
blindly  in  the  way  of  Cain.  Even  the  pages  of  Bible 
history  are  strewn  with  his  successors  in  the  fine  art 
of  murder ; — there  are  at  least  thirty  instances  reach- 
ing all  the  way  from  Eden  to  Christ  and  from  Cain  to 
Barabbas.  Lamech,  Moses,  Joab,  Solomon,  David, 
Absalom,  Zimri — these  are  among  the  names  of  the 
men  in  the  catalogue  of  crime;  and  the  comment 
which  the  writer  makes  in  the  case  of  Zimri  might 
well  be  made  in  every  case :  "  Had  Zimri  peace  who 
slew  his  master  ?  "  Had  Cain  peace,  who  slew  his 
brother  ? 

Have  you  ever  read  the  Legend  of  Jubal?    It  is 


THE  WAY  OF  GAIN  131 

perhaps  George  Eliot's  most  praiseworthy  poem.  It 
represents  Cain  as  running  far  away  from  men  in 
order  that  his  sons  may  never  know  what  death  is. 
One  day,  one  of  Lamech's  sons  is  killed — and  his 
brethren  gather  around  him  in  silent  wonderment — it 
is  the  first  time  they  have  ever  seen  death — they  can- 
not understand  it;  it  must  have  been  an  awful  revela- 
tion to  man  to  discover  that  the  human  body  could 
become  cold  and  lifeless.  Cain,  alas,  knows  only  too 
well  what  this  strange  pallor  means ;  he  had  seen  it  in 
the  case  of  his  murdered  brother,  and  had  wished 
to  hide  it  from  his  sons,  but  murder  and  death  will 
always  out.  And  so  he  pushes  his  way  through  the 
wondering  throng  and  exclaims : 

"  He  will  not  wake.    This  is  the  endless  sleep,  and  we 
must  make 
A  bed  deep  down  for  him  beneath  the  sod." 

Then  the  writer  goes  on  to  add : 

"  No  budding  branch,  no  pebble  from  the  brook. 
No  form,  no  shadow,  but  new  dearness  took 
From  the  one  thought  that  life  must  have  an  end." 

Death  is  an  awful  thing,  and  yet  Metchnikoff  has 
argued  that  when  men  have  lived  their  time  out,  there 
comes  an  appetite  for  death  just  as  natural  as  are  all 
of  the  other  human  appetites.  And  perhaps  it  is 
natural  for  the  human  spirit  to  desire  rest  and  peace 
at  home  after  a  long  pilgrimage  through  this  world. 
But  the  awful  thing  about  murder  is  that  it  sends  a 
soul  prematurely  to  the  bar  of  God.  The  Almighty 
may  have  had  much  more  earthly  work  for  that  man 


132  THE  WAY  OF  CAIN 

to  do — and  here,  His  plan  is  rudely  interrupted  and 
His  divine  calculations  brought  to  nought  by  the  hand 
of  anger.  No  wonder  that  every  code  of  law  on 
earth  punishes  with  heavy  penalties  the  man  who 
takes  another's  life. 

Let  us  notice  here  that  crime  goes  further  back 
than  does  law.  At  the  time  when  this  dastardly  deed 
was  committed  there  were  no  laws  against  murder. 
The  ten  commandments  were  not  given  until  long 
after  this,  and  even  the  law  of  Genesis  9 :  6,  of  eye  for 
eye  and  tooth  for  tooth,  had  not  yet  been  given. 
What  shall  God  do  with  this  man?  He  inflicts  a 
curse  upon  him  and  puts  a  mark  upon  his  body.  The 
tragedy  of  Cain  was  that  he  didn't  recognize  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  human  life — he  didn't  know  what  infinite 
patience  and  care  it  took  to  bring  a  life  into  being — 
he  didn't  know  what  a  soul  meant  to  God. 

I  raise  the  question  whether  we  have  yet  learned, 
after  all  these  years,  the  sanctity  of  life.  Some  years 
ago  one  of  our  magazines  had  an  article  with  the 
headline,  "  Lives  at  $75."  It  referred  to  the  fact 
that  three  years  after  the  Triangle  fire  in  New  York, 
in  which  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  lives  were  sac- 
rificed to  greed,  the  families  of  twenty-three  of  the 
victims,  wearied  in  their  long  fight  for  justice,  agreed 
to  accept  $75  as  the  price  of  the  life  of  their  child. 
Talk  about  blood-money — have  we  come  to  that? 
Are  we  selling  our  lives  at  $75  apiece  in  America? 
If  so,  it  is  time  for  the  slave-dealer  to  move  in. 
Every  ten  minutes  of  the  day  or  night,  five  workmen 
will  be  killed  or  seriously  injured  in  the  one  State  of 
New  York  alone.     Every  minute,  taking  the  country 


THE  WAY  OF  CAIN  133 

as  a  whole,  some  one  American  dies  from  a  prevent- 
able cause.  Every  five  years  we  kill  as  many  in  our 
industries  as  were  killed  in  the  Union  Army  at  Get- 
tysburg. Brethren,  we  are  following  in  the  wake  of 
Cain — and  we  shall  inherit  his  curse.  The  Lord 
bless  every  effort,  both  of  industry  and  society,  which 
aims  to  set  a  higher  par  value  on  a  human  life.  Life 
is  all  too  cheap  at  best,  but  in  the  vision  of  God,  man 
is  of  infinite  worth,  because  Jesus  Christ  died  to  save 
him. 

///.     The  Way  of  Wandering. 

Cain  was  the  first  tramp.  All  wanderers  go  back 
to  him.  Listen  to  his  wail :  "  My  punishment  is 
greater  than  I  can  bear.  I  shall  be  a  fugitive  and  a 
vagabond  in  the  earth  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
every  one  that  findeth  me  shall  slay  me."  "And 
Cain  went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
dwelt  in  the  land  of  Nod  on  the  east  of  Eden."  Cain 
is  the  type  of  man  who  tries  to  run  away  from  an 
unforgiven  past.  He  leaves  blood  spilt  upon  the 
ground  and  doesn't  know  that  his  own  hands  are 
bloody.  He  has  a  haunted  look  in  his  eyes  and 
doesn't  know  that  his  whole  appearance  gives  him 
away.  "  The  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood  crieth 
unto  me  from  the  ground."  Oh,  how  true  it  is — 
and  the  latest  criminologists  can't  improve  upon 
that  sentence.  Blood  has  a  megaphone  voice.  Poe 
tells  in  one  of  his  stories  of  the  hunted  criminal  who 
had  committed  murder  and  had  hidden  the  body  of 
his  victim  under  the  boards  of  the  floor  so  neatly  that 
the  officers  of  the  law  didn't  discover  the  place.    But 


134  THE  WAY  OF  CAIN 

the  murderer  imagines  that  the  heart  of  the  dead  man 
is  beating  so  loudly  that  the  police  can  hear  it  as 
clearly  as  he  can,  and  so  he  tears  up  the  floor  and 
reveals  the  crime — and  Poe  calls  it  the  story  of  the 
"  Telltale  Heart."  It  is  one  more  proof  that  crime  is 
its  own  detective — the  telltale  heartbeat,  the  telltale 
blood,  and  the  telltale  look  in  the  eyes  of  the  guilty 
man.  Thus  conscience  does  make  cowards  of  us  all. 
What  do  you  think  Cain's  mark  was  ?  "  The  Lord 
set  a  mark  upon  Cain,  lest  any  finding  him  should  kill 
him."  I  do  not  know,,  but  I  rather  think  it  was  the 
hunted,  haunted  look  in  his  eyes  and  his  general 
criminal  bearing.  And  when  men  saw  that  look,  it 
said  to  them :  "  Don't  touch  this  man.  You  needn't 
kill  him.  You  needn't  send  him  to  hell,  for  he  is  in 
hell  already.  He  is  suffering  the  tortures  of  a  guilty 
conscience — ^he  is  suffering  from  unforgiven  blood — 
from  unwashed  crime.  Leave  him  alone. ,  He  has 
agony  enough  now."  Cain  is  the  type  of  man  de- 
scibed  by  Paul  Lawrence  Dunbar  in  the  following 
lines : 

"  Good-bye,"  I  said  to  my  conscience, 
"  Good-bye  for  aye  and  aye." 
And  I  put  her  hands  off  harshly  -> 

And  turned  my  face  away; 
And  conscience,  smitten  sorely, 

Returned  not  from  that  day. 

But  a  time  came  when  my  spirit 

Grew  weary  of  its  pace. 
And  I  cried :  "  Come  back,  my  conscience, 

I  long  to  see  thy  face." 
But  conscience  cried :  '  I  cannot ; 

Remorse  sits  in  my  place.* " 


THE  WAY  OF  CAIN  135 

The  Persians  have  a  story  to  the  effect  that  one  day 
the  great  Persian  Sadi  found  a  man  in  the  jungle  at- 
tacked by  a  tiger  and  horribly  mutilated.  The  dying 
man's  features  were  calm  and  serene,  however.  He 
exclaimed :  "  Great  God,  I  thank  Thee  that  I  am  suf- 
fering only  from  the  fangs  of  the  tiger  and  not  from 
the  fangs  of  remorse."  And  so,  sometimes,  brethren, 
when  I  have  had  people  question  me  as  to  whether 
I  thought  hell  were  merely  a  place  of  physical  tor- 
ment, I  have  replied  that  I  thought  it  was  perhaps  a 
place  of  meditation  on  an  uhforgiven  past.  I  can 
conceive  of  nothing  worse  than  that.  Hence,  as  we 
look  back  in  fancy  to  the  vagabond  Cain,  driven  like 
a  wandering  Jew  from  place  to  place,  and  never  find- 
ing peace,  we  do  feel  that  he  spoke  truly  when  he  said 
"  My  punishment  is  greater  than  I  can  bear." 

"  I  hear  a  voice  you  cannot  hear 
Which  says  I  must  not  stay ; 
I  see  a  hand  you  cannot  see 
Which  beckons  me  away." 

And  so  the  self -detected  and  self -condemned  man 
went  his  way.  May  God  have  mercy  on  all  who,  like 
him,  carry  hidden  the  guilty  secrets  of  some  dead  past 
which  only  infinite  Love  can  forgive  and  graciously 
heal! 

IV.    The  Way  of  Godless  Civilisation. 

Cain  was  the  first  city-builder,  and  all  promoters 
and  colonizers  look  back  to  him  as  their  prototype. 
You  will  observe  that  God's  original  plan  for  man 
was  a  garden — the  open  air  and  the  flowers  and  the 


136  THE  WAY  OF  CAIN 

birds  and  the  sunshine — and  it  is  in  the  garden  that 
the  Lord  walks  in  the  cool  of  the  day.  But  now  that 
Cain  has  turned  his  back  on  Jehovah,  he  flees  to  the 
protection  of  city  life,  and  so  the  first  city  was  built 
by.  a  murderer  whose  hands  were  red  with  the  blood 
of  his  brother.  Perhaps  that  is  one  reason  why  the 
city  has  always  been  overwhelmed  with  trying  prob- 
lems— because  the  initial  city  was  a  protest  against 
God's  plan. 

Now  you  notice  that  civilization  begins  in  the  line 
of  Cain,  and  you  have  Jabal  as  the  father  of  cattle- 
raisers  ;  and  there  is  Jubal  who  was  the  original  harp- 
ist and  organist;  and  there  is  Tubal-Cain  who  was 
an  instructor  in  brass  and  iron.  You  see  we  have 
both  city  and  country  life,  and  both  artists  and  manu- 
facturers. Here  we  catch  the  first  faint  beginnings 
of  that  civilization  which  built  its  monuments  in 
Egypt  and  its  poems  in  Greece  and  its  statesmanship 
in  Rome,  and  its  greatest  triumphs  in  modern  Europe 
and  America.  And  yet,  with  the  open  page  of  history 
before  us,  can  we  see  that  civilization  of  itself  has 
ever  been  a  saving  power  ? 

What  does  anybody  think  of  when  the  expression 
"  Modern  Civilization  "  is  mentioned  ?  Well,  most  of 
us  think  at  once  of  automobiles  and  telephones  and 
electric  lights  and  sky-scrapers  and  wireless  telegraphy 
and  ocean  liners  and  submarine  boats.  What  are  all 
these  things  ?  Are  they  not  merely  advanced  methods 
of  doing  business  or  increased  methods  of  luxurious 
enjoyment?  Is  there  a  single  one  of  them  which 
serves  the  soul — or  do  they  all  serve  the  body?  Is 
there  one  of  them  which  serves  God,  or  do  they  all 


THE  WAY  OF  GAIN  137 

serve  man?  Is  there  one  of  them  which  relates  to 
the  endless  future  on  ahead,  or  do  they  all  have  to  do 
with  the  present  life  of  storm  and  stress?  Ponder 
these  and  similar  questions  and  we  soon  shall  see  that 
there  is  little  in  civilization  itself  which  denies  its 
father  Cain. 

My  brethren,  what  we  need  to  do  is  to  get  out  of 
the  way  of  Cain  if  we  are  in  it.  Some  one  will 
quickly  answer,  "  Oh,  I'm  not  a  heretic — I'm  not  in 
the  way  of  Cain,"  but  I  ask,  "  Wait — do  you  take  God 
absolutely  at  His  word?  If  not,  you  are  tending 
slightly  in  that  direction."  Another  says,  "  I'm  not  a 
murderer — I'm  not  in  the  way  of  Cain."  Yes,  but 
listen  to  the  higher  interpretation  of  the  murderous 
spirit  made  by  Jesus:  "Ye  have  heard  that  it  was 
said,  'Thou  shalt  not  kill' — but  I  say  unto  you,  'Who- 
soever is  angry  with  his  brother  without  cause  shall 
be  in  danger  of  the  judgment.'  "  Another  says,  "  I'm 
not  a  tramp ;  I'm  not  in  Cain's  company."  Yes,  but 
are  you  not  perhaps  running  away  from  some  un for- 
given sin  or  are  you  content  with  your  past?  And 
still  another  says,  "  I'm  not  given  over  to  godless  civ- 
ilization— for  I  live  in  Christian  America."  But  I 
imagine  Jesus  would  reply,  "  I  say  unto  you.  Except 
your  righteousness  exceed  that  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven." 

And  so,  beloved,  it  all  comes  back  to  this — what 
way  are  you  on?  Watch  your  mile-stones — do  they 
point  upward  or  downward?  I  am  reminded  of  my 
experience  in  a  certain  cross-country  drive.  We  fol- 
lowed the  Blue  Book  and  when  we  came  to  any  fork 


138  THE  WAY  OF  GAIN 

of  the  roads  we  would  watch  very  carefully  to  see  if 
the  landmarks  in  the  landscape  tallied  with  those 
noted  in  the  book;  and  if  they  didn't,  then  we  knew 
we  were  on  the  wrong  road  and  we  went  back  to  the 
previous  fork  and  started  over  again  in  a  different 
direction.  Watch  your  landmarks,  I  say, — and  if 
they  are  any  of  the  things  I  have  mentioned — go  back 
to  the  fork  of  the  road  and  start  out  on  the  path 
marked  with  God's  love  and  mercy  and  it  will  lead 
you  home.  "  The  way  may  lead  through  darkness, 
but  it  leads  to  light  at  last." 

"  Goodness  and  mercy  all  my  life 
Shall  surely  follow  me; 
And  in  God's  house  forevermore 
My  dwelling-place  shall  be." 


IX 

COMPULSORY  ATHEISM 

"  Ye  have  taken  away  my  gods  which  I  made,    .    .    .    and 
what  have  I  more?  " — Judges  i8  :  24. 

YOU  remember  the  story  of  the  college  presi- 
dent who  was  greeted  by  a  bumptious  youth 
on  the  campus  one  morning  with  the  remark, 
"  Professor,  I  fail  to  find  any  satisfactory  argument 
for  the  existence  of  God."  The  wise  preceptor  re- 
marked, "  Young  man,  you  must  find  a  God  before 
evening  or  else  leave  this  place."  The  rebuke  was 
well  deserved,  for  this  was  a  case  of  elective  or  pref- 
erential atheism,  in  contrast  to  that  of  my  text,  which 
was  compulsory  atheism. 

It  is  a  stirring  picture  which  greets  us  in  this 
eighteenth  chapter  of  Judges.  A  tribe  of  Danites 
are  on  a  tour  of  migration  from  their  home  down  by 
the  sea,  up  to  the  foothills  of  Lebanon.  There  are 
six  hundred  men,  armed  to  the  teeth,  besides  women 
and  children.  At  the  time  our  story  opens  the 
caravan  had  come  to  the  house  of  Micah,  an  Ephraim- 
ite,  where  some  of  the  leaders  recognize  an  old  friend 
in  Micah's  young  priest.  Now,  men  who  go  forth  to 
steal  land  do  not  hesitate  to  steal  gods ;  and  so  one  of 
the  leaders  says  to  the  crowd :  "  I  have  a  secret.  I 
know  where  we  can  get  some  gods  which  will  make 

>39 


140  COMPULSOEY  ATHEISM 

our  company  eminently  respectable.  See  yonder 
little  chapel?  It  is  fitted  up  in  the  most  approved 
style.  Now  I  have  given  you  the  tip.  The  rest  is 
in  your  hands." 

Well,  I  can  see  the  mob  in  fancy  as  it  swarms  into 
the  courtyard  of  the  house  and  stands  at  a  respect- 
ful distance,  while  the  five  spies  who  attended  the 
chapel  on  their  first  trip  go  into  the  little  church  and 
dismantle  the  altar  and  bring  out  to  the  mob  their 
ready-made  gods.  For,  mark  you,  if  this  is  to  be  an 
up-to-date  caravan,  it  must  be  equipped  with  images — 
only  vulgar  crowds  are  atheistic.  But  alas  for  the 
preacher  as  he  sees  this  wrecking  company  at  work; 
and  so,  before  they  walk  off  entirely  with  his  re- 
ligious furnishings,  he  finds  his  voice  and  exclaims: 
"  Would  you  gentlemen  object  to  explaining  to  me 
why  you  are  walking  off  with  my  church  ? " 

And  now  notice  their  tempting  reply.  They  consti- 
tute themselves  into  a  pulpit-committee  and  promptly 
tender  him  a  call  to  a  larger  parish.  They  say  to  him 
in  substance :  "  Your  field  is  very  limited  here.  You 
don't  want  to  spend  your  days  as  Micah's  private 
chaplain,  when  you  might  be  the  pastor  of  a  whole 
tribe  of  Israelites.**  And  the  young  man  didn't  take 
very  long  to  pray  over  this  call.  I  judge  he  thought 
he  must  either  go  with  his  gods  or  lose  his  occupa- 
tion, and  the  call  of  bread  and  butter  is  a  very  im- 
perative one.  "And  the  priest's  heart  was  glad,  and 
he  took  the  images  and  went  into  the  midst  of  the 
people." 

Turn  now  to  what  was  going  on  in  the  house  after 
the  marauders  had  departed.     Poor  Micah  very  soon 


COMPULSOEY  ATHEISM  141 

discovered  his  loss,  and  raising  a  company  of  his 
neighbours,  started  out  to  overtake  the  robbers. 
Some  distance  down  the  road  he  came  upon  them 
and  called  to  them  to  halt.  They  turn  as  if  in  great 
surprise  and  ask,  "  What  aileth  thee,  that  thou  comest 
with  such  a  company  ?  "  And  his  reply  is  the  verse 
which  I  have  chosen  for  my  text :  "  Ye  have  taken 
away  my  gods  which  I  made,  and  the  priest,  and  ye 
are  gone  away :  And  what  have  I  more  ?  And  what 
is  this  that  ye  say  unto  me, '  What  aileth  thee  ? '  "  He 
is  advised  to  restrain  his  grief  for  fear  some  of  the 
rougher  members  of  this  gentle  company  may  make 
him  pay  dearly  for  it.  "And  when  Micah  saw  that 
they  were  too  strong  for  him,  he  turned  and  went 
back  to  his  home." 

Such  is  the  quaint  old  story  which  I  have  labelled 
"  Compulsory  Atheism."  The  man  is  made  godless 
against  his  will.  Hs  had  fitted  up  his  little  hillside 
chapel  with  laborious  care;  he  had  spared  no  ex- 
pense on  his  pantheon  of  gods,  he  had  secured  a  regu- 
larly ordained  Levite  as  his  chaplain.  Surely  he  had 
a  right  to  expect  the  favour  of  heaven.  Such  a  man 
does  not  want  to  have  his  religion  stolen  suddenly  by 
a  band  of  emigrants,  even  if  they  do  need  it  more  than 
he  does.  Micah  did  not  have  enough  religion  to  ex- 
port; he  needed  it  all  for  home  consumption.  But 
what  can  a  man  do  when  six  hundred  armed  robbers 
invite  his  deities  away?  He  can  do  nothing  but  go 
back  to  an  atheism  which  is  all  the  more  pardonable 
because  it  is  involuntary.  And  so  we  take  leave  of 
the  Ephraimite  whose  story  we  have  thus  briefly 
resurrected  from  its  dead  past. 


U2  COMPULSOEY  ATHEISM 

"His  bones  are  dust, 
His  good  sword  rust — 
His  soul  is  with  the  saints  we  trust." 

What  is  the  modern  message  from  the  ancient 
narrative  ?  There  are  some  things  of  abiding  signifi- 
cance in  the  cry  of  the  injured  Micah.  All  un- 
consciously he  traverses  three  steps  in  the  evolution 
of  religion  in  his  exclamation.  His  gods  were  manu- 
factured, they  were  stolen,  and  they  were  all  he  had 
to  tie  to.  "  Ye  have  taken  away  my  gods  which  I 
made,  and  what  have  I  more  ? "  Let  us  call  the 
three  steps :  Idolatry,  Iconoclasm  and  Idealism.  We 
survey  these  in  detail. 

/.  Idolatry:  "My  Gods  Which  I  Made." 
Idolatry  is  religion  made  easy.  It  is  worship  while 
you  wait.  It  brings  the  absentee  god  near.  It  is  an 
illustration  of  the  unconquerable  desire  for  ob- 
jectivity which  is  a  characteristic  of  the  Oriental  and 
Mediterranean  peoples.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  cer- 
tain fascination  about  seeing  God  both  by  eye-gate 
and  mind-gate.  If  the  inventive  genius  of  this  twen- 
tieth century  were  to  try  its  hand  on  improving  re- 
ligion, it  might  get  some  pointers  from  Micah ;  for  it 
is  vastly  easier  to  concentrate  the  distracted  mind  on 
a  thing  than  a  principle.  And  the  most  uncompro- 
mising Protestant  cannot  but  feel  the  appeal  of  a 
visible  emblem  of  the  Unseen.  They  tell  us  that  He 
is  "  Closer  than  breathing,  Nearer  than  hands  and 
feet."  Yes,  we  believe  it ;  but  oh,  that  we  could  touch 
Him !  Here  comes  the  blessing  of  the  crucifix  or  the 
image  or  the  eikon.    It  is  silence  breaking  into  speech, 


COMPULSORY  ATHEISM  143 

it  is  Spirit  breaking  into  matter,  it  is  God  dwelling  iji 
wood  or  marble.  It  is  in  a  new  sense,  Immanuel — 
God  with  us. 

The  idol-worshipper  stops  with  second  causes — he 
doesn't  trace  the  storm  or  wind  or  fire  to  their  real 
Source.  He  would  say  that  the  trolley  explains  the 
electric-car,  because  it  is  the  most  evident  thing  about 
the  car — and  hence  you  would  have  a  cult  of  trolley- 
worshippers.  Similarly  he  would  attribute  the  physi- 
cian's skill  to  some  power  resident  in  the  knife,  and  a 
luscious  bunch  of  grapes  to  the  kind  grape-god  hiding 
in  the  vine.  And  so  of  course  the  sun  and  moon  and 
stars  shine  by  their  own  light  instead  of  reflecting  the 
smile  of  God;  and  thus  the  idol  becomes  an  arrant 
thief,  stealing  the  worship  which  belongs  to  the  Power 
behind  the  throne.  But  it  is  a  time-saving  apparatus ; 
for  just  as  Micah  saved  himself  the  trouble  of  going 
to  Jerusalem  to  worship  by  having  his  gods  near  at 
hand,  so  the  savage  saves  his  mind  the  trouble  of 
the  journey  into  the  unseen — the  journey  that  Job 
took,  for  example,  when  he  cried  out,  "  O  that  I 
knew  where  I  might  find  Him."  The  idolater 
knows — here  He  is.  And  so  it  is  a  very  convenient 
form  of  religion,  could  we  but  accept  it. 

Only  recently  we  read  of  an  incident  which  took 
place  in  or  near  Singapore.  The  natives  believe  that 
spirits  reside  in  trees,  and  these  Tree-spirits  are  ap- 
peased by  incense-sticks  which  are  placed  in  or  near 
the  tree.  One  evening  a  rich  young  Baba,  one  Lee 
Khia  Guan,  who  had  been  educated  at  Cambridge, 
was  strolling  with  a  friend;  and  happening  on  one 
such  tree,  he  saw  a  number  of  joss-sticks  burning  at 


144  COMPULSOEY  ATHEISM 

its  roots.  He  laughed  at  the  crude  superstition  of  the 
natives,  kicking  the  sticks  over  and  trampling  upon 
them  in  glee.  His  friend  remonstrated  with  him,  as 
they  resumed  their  walk,  saying  that  "  there  might 
be  something  in  it,"  and  that  for  his  part  he  pre- 
ferred to  leave  such  things  severely  alone,  as  he  had 
heard  of  cases  where  accidents  had  happened  to  per- 
sons who  interfered  with  such  trees.  Guan  ridiculed 
the  idea  of  haunted  trees  as  a  belief  of  the  ignorant 
coolies.  Three  days  later,  while  he  was  on  his  way 
to  town  in  his  motor  car,  just  as  he  passed  under  this 
tree,  a  high  branch  fell  right  across  the  car,  killing 
him  on  the  spot  and  demolishing  the  entire  front  part 
of  the  car.  Of  course  the  tree-spirit  did  it.  Here 
you  have  an  example  of  the  rise  of  idolatry,  by  the 
transformation  of  second  causes  into  first  cause. 
This  is  precisely  what  the  Old  Testament  Semites 
did — they  invested  each  spring  or  tree  or  mountain- 
top  or  cave  with  a  "  baal "  or  proprietor ;  and  to  him 
a  high-place  was  built,  and  a  stone  pillar  set  up  and 
a  "  beth-el,"  or  house  of  deity,  dedicated. 

Would  that  we  might  stop  there,  with  the  Semites 
and  the  Malays — but  we  cannot.  Bishop  Heber's 
hymn  must  be  rewritten,  for  the  American  in  his 
blindness  bows  down  to  flesh  and  blood.  New  York 
alone  has  a  Vedanta  Society  of  5,000  members. 
Seattle  has  its  Buddhist  temple,  San  Francisco  its 
Hindu  shrine,  Los  Angeles  its  Krishna  organiza- 
tion, Chicago  and  Lowell  their  Zoroastrian  temples, 
and  a  modern  Mohammedan  cult  has  its  new  church 
in  the  Illinois  metropolis  also.  The  Congress  of  Re- 
ligions in  1893  is  to  be  thanked  in  part  for  the  in- 


COMPULSORY  ATHEISM  146 

vasion  of  America  by  heathen  idols.  And  so  we 
need  a  few  Home  Missions  to  ourselves,  as  well  as 
Foreign  Missions  to  the  places  where  "  only  man  is 
vile."     Here  woman  is  vile  as  well. 

A  still  more  personal  question  remains  before  we 
pass  from  this  point.  Even  those  of  us  who  are 
nominally  Christian  find  others  beside  Christ  on  our 
altars.  The  Egyptians  had  the  fiction  that  the  gods 
when  pursued  by  their  enemies  had  to  take  refuge  in 
the  body  of  an  animal,  and  hence  their  reverence  for 
the  brute  creation.  Ah  me,  the  Son  of  God  would 
have  to  take  refuge  in  a  pile  of  gold  or  some  other 
mundane  creation  to  win  the  worship  of  some  of  His 
followers!  It  is  told  of  one  specially  religious  Af- 
rican tribe  that  they  fill  their  huts  and  hovels  with  so 
many  idols  that  there  is  hardly  any  room  left  for 
their  families.  Well,  I  can  think  of  people  closer 
home  than  Africa,  who  not  only  crowd  out  their 
families  with  their  gods — they  even  crowd  out  God 
Himself.  Oh,  beloved,  shame  on  us  in  these  heathen- 
Christian  days.  I  know  it  is  a  hard  thing  to  fling 
from  your  altars  the  gods  of  many  years,  but  may  the 
Lord  help  you  to  do  it!  Now  is  a  good  time  to 
register  your  vow  in  the  hymn  we  sing: 

"  The  dearest  idol  I  have  known, 
What  e'er  that  idol  he- 
Help  me  to  tear  it  from  Thy  throne 
And  worship  only  Thee." 

//.  Iconoclasm:  "  Ye  Have  Taken  Away  My 
Gods." 

You  will  not  find  this  crime  on  the  statute-books 
of  the  State  to-day,  and  yet  there  is  none  more 


146  COMPULSOEY  ATHEISM 

heinous.  A  man  may  steal  my  purse  and  my  home 
and  even  my  good  name  rather  than  my  god.  And 
yet  there  are  those  who  make  a  business  of  doing 
just  this  very  thing.  There  have  always  been  and 
always  will  be  men  who  have  gotten  tired  of  divinities, 
and  who  cannot  find  any  trace  of  God  through  tele- 
scope or  scalpel  or  even  in  a  sunset.  Now,  if  they 
do  not  want  a  god  for  themselves,  that  is  of  course 
their  business  and  their  loss; — but  one  would  think 
they  would  let  well  enough  alone  and  let  him  have 
gods  who  would.  No,  they  must  needs  cleanse  the 
world  from  the  defilement  of  deity. 

One  thinks  of  Tennyson's  plea  which  is  still 
needed : 

"  O  thou  that  after  toil  and  storm 

Mayst  seem  to  have  reached  a  purer  air, 
Whose  faith  has  centre  everywhere, 

Nor  cares  to  fix  itself  in  form  — 
Leave  thou  thy  sister  when  she  prays, 

Her  early  heaven,  her  happy  views ; 
Nor  thou  with  shadow'd  hint  confuse 

A  life  that  leads  melodious  days." 

The  writer  can  never  forget  a  personal  experience. 
In  the  seminary  days  when  the  youthful  theologian 
knew  it  all,  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  old  manse, 
where,  among  others,  lived  a  little  sister  whose  simple 
faith  was  never  disturbed  by  roving  bands  of  Danites. 
He  happened  to  make  some  chance  remark  about  the 
original  form  of  the  Lord's  Prayer.  At  once  the 
little  sister's  face  was  clouded  and  the  eager  voice 
remarked,  "Why,  Herbie,  isn't  the  Bible  true?" 
The   sting  of  that   question  will   never  be  erased. 


COMPULSOEY  ATHEISM  147 

Once  and  for  all  the  young  theologian  resigned  from 
the  ranks  of  the  Danites.  He  will  not  be  a  demol- 
isher  of  shrines  where  some  repair,  whose  shoes* 
latchet  he  is  not  worthy  to  unloose ! 

But  there  are  Danites  to-day  who  have  not  re- 
signed. One  might  speak  of  a  certain  type  of  science, 
or  of  a  materialistic  philosophy,  or  of  Marxian  So- 
cialism, which  insists  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  So- 
cialist to  erase  the  name  of  God  from  the  universe. 
Or  one  might  think  of  Schopenhauer  or  Renan  or 
Voltaire  or  Ingersoll  or  Knapp  or  a  thousand  others ; 
but  many  of  the  brave  Philistines  of  the  past  have 
long  since  fallen.  I  like  that  story  of  Chaplain  Mc- 
Cabe,  who  read  one  day  as  he  journeyed  on  a  rail- 
way train,  the  speech  of  Robert  Ingersoll  the  night 
before  in  which  he  prophesied  the  speedy  decease  of 
the  Church.  The  chaplain  stopped  long  enough  at 
the  next  station  to  send  the  following  telegram  to 
Ingersoll :  "  Dear  Robert.  All  hail  the  power  of 
Jesus'  name.  We  are  now  building  one  Methodist 
church  a  day,  and  propose  to  make  it  two."  And  so  I 
feel  like  sending  a  similar  wire :  "  Dear  Danites.  Fire 
away.  Nobody  minds  you.  The  Son  of  God  goes 
forth  to  war.     Come  and  join  our  happy  band." 

An  atheist  named  Lewis  Knapp  erected  a  series  of 
tablets  in  the  cemetery  of  Kenosha,  Wisconsin,  in 
order  to  perpetuate  his  peculiar  sentiments.  He 
worked  for  years  on  the  composing  of  the  inscrip- 
tions, and  when  they  were  completed  they  made  up 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  arraignments  of  the 
Christian  religion  known  in  history.  Men  came  thou- 
sands of  miles  to  read  and  copy  the  words,  and  it  is 


148  COMPULSORY  ATHEISM 

said  that  when  they  were  sent  to  a  foundry  to  be  cast 
upon  monuments  of  metal  which  would  withstand 
fire  as  well  as  the  elements,  the  men  working  in  the 
foundry  went  on  strike  because  they  feared  they 
might  call  down  upon  them  the  wrath  of  the  Most 
High.  But  the  infidel  spent  his  money  and  time  for 
nought,  for  the  surviving  relatives  of  Knapp  are  not 
in  sympathy  with  his  atheism,  and  some  years  ago 
they  signed  an  agreement  that  the  monuments  be 
taken  out,  broken  into  small  pieces,  and  the  debris 
either  buried  or  thrown  into  the  lake.  So  perish  all 
the  King's  enemies! 

There  is,  however,  a  type  of  iconoclasm  which  is 
decidedly  helpful,  rather  than  hurtful.  Hezekiah 
was  a  benefactor  to  the  people  when  he  took  hold  of 
the  brazen  serpent  which  had  outlived  its  day  of  use- 
fulness and  broke  it  in  pieces  before  the  people  and 
said :  "  Quit  worshipping  that  thing — why,  it  is  noth- 
ing but  a  piece  of  brass."  "And  he  called  it  Ne- 
hushtan."  I  like  this  idea  which  some  well-meaning 
men  are  putting  forward,  of  having  an  illuminated 
cross  on  the  roof  of  our  great  sky-scrapers,  not  to 
protect  the  man  on  the  fifteenth  floor  but  to  point  the 
harassed  traveller  in  the  street  upward  to  God.  And 
I  shall  favour  the  plan  until  God  becomes  nailed  to 
the  cross;  when  that  happens,  some  modern  Heze- 
kiah must  mount  the  roof  and  shatter  the  cross  into 
fragments  and  call  it  "  Nehushtan."  For,  as  the  poet 
reminded  us,  it  is  only  when  the  half -gods  go  that 
the  gods  arrive.  Better  a  bare  altar  and  God  than  a 
hundred  lighted  candles  but  no  Saviour.  Victor 
Hugo  says  that  Waterloo  was  lost  because  Napoleon 


COMPULSORY  ATHEISM  149 

bothered  God;  I  tell  you,  when  demigods  get  in  the 
way  of  God,  they  ought  to  be  overthrown.  It  be- 
hooves us  to  remember  this,  when  we  find  that  we  are 
loving  something  better  than  God. 

But  it  goes  without  saying  that  it's  a  mighty  poor 
god  that  is  capable  of  being  stolen;  then  it  ought  to 
be  stolen ;  there  is  need  of  some  theological  scavengers 
always.  Paul  was  one  such:  he  was  fond  of  show- 
ing that  the  Old  Testament  types  had  been  super- 
seded by  the  New  Testament  reality.  The  key-word 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  "  better  " — and  this 
very  word  is  an  example  of  Pauline  iconoclasm. 
Jesus  Himself  was  regarded  as  an  image-breaker  by 
His  enemies :  this  Man  who  would  destroy  the  temple 
and  build  it  again  in  three  days  was  surely  a  danger- 
ous citizen  and  had  better  be  taken  to  His  cross.  All 
down  through  the  history  of  the  Church  there  have 
been  braves  who  have  dared  to  defy  custom  and  blaze 
a  new  way  to  the  throne  of  God.  Luther  shattered 
all  precedents  when  he  nailed  his  theses  to  the  church- 
door;  and  to-day  Billy  Sunday  offends  the  sensitive 
when  he  turns  his  sledge-hammer  invective  against 
the  modern  Church.  Let  us  be  patient;  for  the 
great  sin  of  which  the  iconoclast  is  guilty  is  that  of 
being  born  too  soon.  The  reformer  of  to-day  is 
the  conservative  of  to-morrow;  and  so  it  is  that  we 
build  pathways  to  the  graves  of  the  men  whom  our 
forefathers  stoned. 

///.    Idealism:  "And  What  Have  I  More?  " 
Micah's  cry  has  been  often  repeated  in  the  history 
of  religious  experience.   "  Don't  take  away  ray  images, 


150  COMPULSOET  ATHEISM 

for  I  have  nothing  beyond  them."  When  our  Roman 
CathoHc  maid  entered  for  the  first  time  a  Protestant 
church  she  cried  out  in  surprise :  "  But  where  are  the 
pictures  ? "  She  could  not  conceive  of  worship 
apart  from  her  gods.  When  the  Mohammedan 
prays  he  must  needs  face  Mecca,  for  he  has  nothing 
more  in  prayer  than  the  physical  localization  of  God 
in  a  place  on  the  maps.  So  it  is  with  some  of 
our  friends  of  the  liturgic  churches,  who  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  they  do  not  feel  they  have  been  to 
service  at  all  unless  they  have  bowed  the  knee  in  the 
prescribed  form.  We  are  all  more  or  less  in  bondage 
to  the  superficial ;  and  hence  we  have  a  fellow-feeling 
with  the  man  who  was  converted  in  one  of  Mn 
Sunday's  meetings  out  in  Iowa.  This  man  came  into 
the  tabernacle  one  day  after  the  meeting  and  spread 
out  on  the  platform  a  large  napkin  akin  to  the  table- 
cloth in  its  size.  He  said :  "  I  want  a  lot  of  shavings 
and  sawdust."  "  What  for  ?  "  "  I'll  tell  you :  I  want 
enough  to  make  a  sofa  pillow.  Right  here  is  where 
I  knelt  down  and  was  converted.  I  would  like  to 
have  enough  to  make  a  sofa  pillow,  to  have  some- 
thing in  my  home  to  make  me  think  of  God.  I  don't 
want  to  forget  God,  or  that  I  was  saved.  Can  you 
give  me  enough  ?  "  The  evangelist  replied :  "  Yes, 
indeed;  and  if  you  want  enough  to  make  a  mattress, 
take  it ;  and  if  you  want  enough  of  the  tent  to  make 
a  pair  of  breeches  for  each  of  the  boys,  take  your 
scissors  and  cut  it  right  out,  if  it  will  help  you  to 
keep  your  mind  on  God." 

Now  of  course,  this  is  all  very  superficial;  as  re- 
ligion in  its  early  stages  always  is.    It  is  only  skin- 


COMPULSOEY  ATHEISM  151 

deep.  It  is  a  kind  of  pious  rash,  or  a  theological 
measles.  The  man  cries  out  helpless,  "What  have 
I  more  ?  "  And  if  the  Danites  come  along  and  pro- 
ceed to  tear  the  scaffolding  down,  he  cries  as  though 
the  house  were  falling  in.  If  the  silly  oxen  shake 
the  ark,  he  puts  forth  his  hand  like  Uzzah  to  steady 
it  and  keep  it  from  falling — and  he  probably  gels 
Uzzah's  reward  for  his  pains. 

We  are  in  danger  to-day,  it  seems  to  me,  of  living 
on  the  surface.  We  exaggerate  organization  and 
minimize  inspiration.  We  pin  our  affection  to  the 
accidental  instead  of  to  the  real  things.  We  are  told 
of  a  man  who  wanted  to  kill  himself  when  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  fell.  We  read  of  a  Baltimore  woman 
who  suicided  when  a  beloved  pastor  was  removed, 
We  all  know  of  congregations  which  have  been 
wrecked  over  the  building  of  a  new  edifice  and  the 
discarding  of  the  old.  People  come  to  love  the  holes 
in  the  wall  and  the  bricks  in  the  building.  Have  we 
gone  very  far  beyond  the  heathen,  after  all,  with  his 
gods  of  wood  and  stone  ?  *'  He  made  as  though  he 
would  have  gone  farther,  but  they  constrained  him, 
and  he  went  in." 

I  can  suggest  an  appropriate  epitaph  for  some  dead 
churches  that  I  know.  I  would  write  over  their 
closed  doors  this  superscription :  "  Killed  By  Machin- 
ery." We  set  up  so  many  wheels  and  belts  and 
levers  that  some  day  accidentally  we  become  ensnared 
in  the  red  tape  ourselves  and  die  a  miserable  death. 
There  is  a  Chinese  story  of  a  soul  which  was  lost  in 
church :  early  one  Sunday  morning  a  mob  gathered 
before  the  doors  of  the  church  at  Ningpo,  demanding 


152  OOMPULSOEY  ATHEISM 

admission.  Their  motive  was  a  serious  one.  A 
weeping  mother  led  the  way,  and  she  explained  to  the 
missionary  that  her  little  boy  "  had  lost  his  soul  in 
the  church  the  day  before,  and  she  wished  access  to 
the  interior  to  look  for  it."  The  child,  who  had  been 
playing  there,  had  been  taken  with  a  sudden  fever 
on  going  home ;  and  was  then  delirious.  In  delirium 
the  soul  was  supposed  to  be  absent,  still  hovering  in 
the  hall  of  the  church.  Accordingly  the  relatives 
entered  the  church  with  a  bundle  of  the  boy's  gar- 
ments, and  prayed  the  strayed  soul  to  perch  on  the 
bundle  and  return  to  its  resting-place.  This  done, 
they  departed,  firmly  persuaded  that  they  had  cap- 
tured the  vagrant  spirit  of  the  lad.  It  is  only  a 
Chinese  superstition,  but  it  carries  its  own  moral :  the 
soul  of  religion  is  often  lost  in  the  church,  and  prayer 
must  be  offered  for  its  return. 

Oh,  brethren,  the  need  of  the  dying  world  to-day 
is  this  "  Something  more  "  that  Micah  lacked.  There 
is  a  mystic  plus,  a  great  beyond,  an  undiscovered 
country  on  beyond  the  sacraments  and  the  ritual,  if 
we  could  only  find  it.  The  center  of  the  great  Welsh 
Revival  was  said  to  be  the  "  rediscovery  of  God." 
And  I  believe  God  stands  ready  to  revive  His  formal 
Church  as  soon  as  it  will  put  Him  in  place  of  His 
images.  But  there  must  be  some  heart-breaking 
demolition  of  altars  first.  I  have  read  of  a  family 
who  had  built  a  new  home,  and  being  people  of  re- 
ligious tendencies,  they  had  made  a  family  altar  of 
perfumed  wood,  and  were  considering  where  to  place 
it.  The  mother  insisted  on  its  being  placed  in  the 
kitchen,  since  that  was  the  place  of  her  trials.    The 


COMPULSORY  ATHEISM  153 

father,  however,  favoured  the  library,  for  a  like 
reason.  The  son  suggested  the  reception  hall,  where 
it  might  be  seen  by  all  visitors.  The  differences  of 
opinion  were  so  great  that  the  family  fell  to  quarrel- 
ing— and  so  the  father  referred  the  question  to  the 
little  baby-girl.  She  was  wont  to  sit  before  the  fire- 
place and  watch  the  flames ;  and  so,  when  the  matter 
was  left  in  her  hands,  she  said,  "  The  fire's  nearly 
out.  Let's  put  it  on  the  fire."  And  so  she  threw 
the  altar  on  the  dying  embers,  and  it  soon  burst  into 
flames,  the  fragrance  of  the  perfumed  wood  filling 
the  house.  The  altar  had  fulfilled  its  mission,  but  it 
had  to  be  cremated  first.  So  may  God  destroy  all  our 
household  gods,  until  He,  whose  right  it  is  to  reign, 
shall  reign — 

"  From  sea  to  sea,  and  shore  to  shore 
Till  moons  shall  wax  and  wane  no  more." 


X 

THREE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  RELIGION 

"  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy_  are  ye  if  ye  do 
them." — John  13:17. 

THE  text  vindicates,  it  seems  to  me,  the  ex- 
istence of  three  fundamental  elements  in  re- 
ligion. It  falls  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  in 
connection  with  a  most  commonplace  incident.  He  is 
not  discussing  the  psycholo^  of  the  soul,  nor  girding 
Himself  for  some  great  pronouncement.  It  is  just 
one  of  His  obiter  dicta,  a  saying  flung  off  by  the  way, 
and  yet  it  contains  in  brief  compass  the  whole 
philosophy  of  the  Christian  life.  It  is  a  plea  for 
knowledge  which  issues  in  activity  and  brings  happi- 
ness in  its  train :  "  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy 
are  ye  if  ye  do  them." 

What  a  great  word  it  is  for  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury! For  we  live  in  a  pragmatic  age.  The  de- 
mand of  the  day  is  for  a  religion  that  works.  The 
time  was  when  a  man  was  revered  for  what  he 
knew,  but  now  mere  knowledge  is  discounted  at  the 
bank  of  reality.  Then  again,  there  was  a  time  when 
the  heart  was  elevated  above  the  head,  and  a  man  was 
honoured  because  he  felt.  But  in  our  rushing  days 
the  hand  takes  precedence  of  both  head  and  heart, 
and  the  question  asked  of  the  applicant  for  fame  is 


THEEE  GEEAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION  155 

not  "  What  do  you  know  ?  "  nor  "  What  do  you  feel  ? " 
but  "  What  can  you  do  ?  " 

"  Fading  away,  like  the  stars  of  the  morning, 
Losing  their  light  in  the  glorious  sun — 
Thus  would  we  pass  from  the  earth  and  its  toiling, 
Only  remembered  by  what  we  have  done." 

It  is  related  that  a  Japanese  student  at  Tokio  who 
had  entered  a  Christian  college  purely  for  the  sake  of 
education,  with  the  intention  of  retaining  his  Buddhist 
faith,  was  won  to  Christianity  by  a  rare  exhibition  of 
doctrine  incarnated  in  life.  The  students  rebelled  on 
account  of  the  poor  accommodations,  and  this  Japa- 
nese was  one  of  a  deputation  of  two  sent  to  remon- 
strate with  Dr.  Williams.  The  good  man  listened 
patiently  to  their  grievance  and  then  said,  "  I  cannot 
let  you  suffer  in  this  way,  for  I  expect  you  one  day 
to  be  the  leaders  of  Japan.  Now,  I  have  a  nice  room 
with  a  southern  exposure;  you  two  must  take  that, 
and  I  will  take  your  room."  It  was  the  speech  of  a 
Christian  gentleman,  who  believed  not  merely  in 
prating  about  the  cross,  but  in  "  doing  the  doctrine," 
as  the  Koreans  say.  And  this  workable  and  work- 
ing faith  won  the  young  Japanese  without  further 
argument,  reconciling  him  not  merely  to  his  room, 
but  better  still,  to  Christ. 

May  I  take  an  illustration  from  the  business  world, 
which  may  throw  some  light  on  the  psychology  back 
of  this  text?  I  ask  the  advertising  man  something 
of  his  program  and  I  find  that  it  is  mightily  like  that 
of  Jesus.  He  flings  out  in  broad  headlines  his 
startling  facts — first  of  all  he  must  give  informa- 
tion— the  passer-by  must  know  that  hats  are  on  sale. 


156  THEEE  GEEAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION 

Then  next  he  aims  to  touch  the  emotions  and  to  in- 
spire the  reader  with  the  desire  to  own  one  of  those 
hats.  Now  comes  the  crucial  point  of  his  whole 
transaction — he  has  utterly  failed  unless  he  has  com- 
pelled the  response  of  the  will :  that  is,  unless  the  in- 
formation and  the  desire  have  resulted  in  the  act  of 
purchase.  He  is  not  concerned  that  this  chance 
stranger  shall  know  that  he  is  selling  hats ;  nor  is  he 
satisfied  to  make  him  want  a  hat;  his  object  is  to 
sell  the  man  a  hat.  He  must  get  results.  And  I 
believe  our  Lord  Christ  was  something  of  a  prag- 
matist,  for  He  was  not  content  with  notions  or  even 
emotions,  but  insisted  on  motions. 

Religion  has  been  defined  as  the  soul's  response  to 
the  revelation  by  which  it  is  illumined,  kindled  and 
moved.  You  will  observe  that  this  definition  in- 
cludes in  its  last  three  verbs  the  same  elements  I  am 
discussing.  There  are  some  people  for  whom  religion 
stops  in  the  first  stage — they  are  content  to  be  il- 
lumined and  so  they  believe  in  Christ  historically. 
Again  there  are  others  with  whom  religion  means  the 
indulgence  of  feeling,  and  they  stop  at  the  kindling  of 
the  emotions.  But  the  sort  of  Christian  which  Christ 
approves  is  the  man  who  undergoes  the  discipline  of 
obedience — he  translates  his  creed  into  his  life;  he  is 
moved. 

Now  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  three  chief 
forms  which  religion  has  historically  taken  corre- 
spond to  these  three  elements  of  human  nature. 
The  speculative  form  of  faith  is  represented  by 
theologians  and  philosophers,  who  are  mainly  inter- 
ested in  a  religion  of  the  head.    The  ritual  type  is 


THREE  GEEAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION   157 

represented  by  priests,  who  are  mainly  interested 
in  a  religion  of  the  heart.  The  legal  form  is  rep- 
resented by  the  scribes,  who  are  mainly  interested 
in  a  religion  of  the  hand.  And  these  three  species 
may  be  seen  exemplified  in  three  of  the  great  re- 
ligious systems;  that  of  the  intellectual  type  in 
Brahmanism,  that  of  the  emotional  in  Buddhism,  and 
that  of  the  volitional  or  practical  in  Confucianisni  or 
Mohammedanism.  It  is  our  boast  that  Christianity 
is  greater  than  any  of  these,  in  that  it  is  not  merely 
a  system  of  thought,  or  a  ritual  of  worship,  or  a 
fashion  of  life,  but  that  it  commands  the  whole  man; 
it  is  not  merely  knowing  or  enjoying  or  doing,  but  all 
of  them  in  one.  "  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are 
ye  if  ye  do  them." 

To  put  the  same  matter  in  another  way,  we  say 
that  to  be  a  Christian  involves  three  things:  belief, 
confidence  and  trust.  Belief  is  an  intellectual  proc- 
ess, confidence  an  emotional,  and  trust  a  volitional 
process.  The  first  two  are  involuntary ;  a  man  can- 
not compel  himself  to  believe  a  statement,  nor  to  re- 
pose confidence  in  the  Man  of  Nazareth.  But  he  can 
will  to  trust  Him,  and  so  hand  over  his  life  to  His 
keeping.  Perhaps  Professor  James,  instead  of  writ- 
ing of  "  The  Will  to  Believe "  would  have  done 
better  to  have  discussed  "  The  Will  to  Trust."  Let 
us  proceed  to  notice  these  three  elements  in  detail. 

/.     Knowledge:    "If  Ye  Know." 

You  cannot  build  a  house  without  a  foundation. 
Nor  can  you  build  religious  emotion  on  anything  less 
stable  than  facts.     The  weakness  of  some  present- 


158  THEEE  GEEAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION 

day  preaching  is  just  in  this :  that  it  seeks  to  arouse 
emotions,  without  anything  to  base  them  on.  Mr. 
Mallock  in  his  book  "  Religion  as  a  Credible  Doc- 
trine "  has  a  paragraph  on  "  The  uselessness  of  emo- 
tional apologetics,"  in  which  he  stresses  this  thought. 
He  shows  that  the  change  in  religious  attitude  and 
belief  which  the  last  sixty  or  seventy  years  have  wit- 
nessed, has  originated,  not  in  a  decline  of  the  emotion, 
but  in  a  decay  of  the  beliefs  which  justified  the  emo- 
tion. The  way  to  remedy  the  defect,  therefore,  is  not 
to  work  oneself  up  into  an  excitement,  but  to  appeal 
to  the  reason,  that  is,  to  show  that  religion  is  a  cred- 
ible doctrine.  A  fireman  keeps  his  engine  going,  not 
by  applying  the  bellows  to  the  smouldering  coals,  but 
by  putting  on  more  coal. 

It  needs  to  be  emphasized  again  that  knowledge  is 
power.  "A  wise  man  is  strong;  yea,  a  man  of 
knowledge  increaseth  strength."  In  spite  of  Rome's 
teaching  to  the  contrary,  ignorance  is  not  the  mother 
of  devotion.  Christianity  is  not  a  pious  glorification 
of  stupidity.  A  Christian  is  not  a  member  of  the 
Know-nothing  party,  and  religion  is  not  the  same 
thing  as  superstition.  Jesus  never  said  "  Blessed  are 
the  empty,  for  they  shall  be  filled."  Dr.  Vance  puts 
the  same  thought  well :  "  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum, 
and  Grace  does  not  glorify  it."  The  brother  who 
thanked  God  for  his  ignorance  probably  had  a  good 
deal  to  be  thankful  for. 

I  read  a  sparkling  article  the  other  day  on  the 
Value  of  Ignorance.  The  author  insists  that  it  isn't 
well  to  know  too  much,  and  that  Galileo  and  Coperni- 
cus and  Columbus  tore  things  up  considerably  by 


THREE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  RELIGION  159 

their  discoveries.  He  seeks  to  prove  his.  point  by 
showing  that  every  pioneer  or  inventor  or  saviour  has 
been  ostracized  or  spurned  or  crucified.  Prometheus 
and  Lucifer  and  Bruno  and  John  Brown  and  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  all  paid  the  price  for  interfering  with  the 
world's  ignorance;  for  every  new  fact  acquired  be- 
comes the  enemy  of  human  happiness.  Well,  we  can- 
not agree  with  these  findings.  Truth  has  been 
crushed  to  earth,  but  she  rises  again.  She  has  been 
crucified  between  two  thieves,  but  the  long  years  have 
always  justified  her,  soon  or  late.  Accordingly  our 
Lord  has  bequeathed  us  a  religious  system  built  on 
facts,  and  Christianity  must  either  stand  or  fall  by 
these  facts.  She  welcomes  investigation,  and  chal- 
lenges the  microscopes  and  telescopes  of  a  critical 
world  to  aid  her  in  the  discovery  of  truth. 

Mere  knowledge,  however,  will  not  suffice.  Dr. 
Patton  has  well  shown  that,  judging  the  two  men 
Paul  and  Christ  merely  by  brain-power,  so  far  as  this 
can  be  judged  by  their  recorded  sayings,  Paul  was 
the  bigger  man  of  the  two.  There  are  other  tests, 
however;  for  transformation  is  better  than  informa- 
tion. Hell  is  full  of  learned  heads,  and  a  man  may 
go  to  perdition  repeating  as  he  goes  the  articles  of  the 
Creed  of  Chalcedon.  The  Five  Points  of  Calvinism 
will  never  in  themselves  build  up  robust  Christian 
character,  any  more  than  an  architect's  blue-print  will 
furnish  a  comfortable  place  to  live.  No,  we  must  re- 
late truth  to  life — we  must  Incarnate  it,  before  it  be- 
comes worth  while.  And  I  fear  me  there  are  many 
professed  Christians  who  know  religion  just  as  the 
schoolboy  knows  South  America;  he  can  show  you 


160  THREE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  RELIGION 

where  it  is  on  the  map,  but  he  has  never  been  there. 
You  can  usually  tell,  when  you  hear  two  men  describ- 
ing the  same  place,  which  one  has  been  there  and 
which  one  has  read  Stoddard's  lectures. 

The  matter  of  church  creeds  naturally  suggests 
itself  here.  There  was  a  day  when  a  knowledge  of 
the  Confession  of  Faith  was  regarded  as  a  prerequi- 
site for  the  Christian  life ;  but  we  have  now  come  to 
see  that  all  credal  forms  of  expression  fail  to  take  the 
place  of  an  experience  of  spiritual  truth  in  the  soul. 
The  old  elder  who  insisted  on  an  answer  to  the  107 
questions  of  the  Shorter  Catechism,  before  he  voted 
for  the  reception  to  church  membership  of  a  class 
of  boys  and  girls,  is  dead ;  and  may  he  rest  in  peace. 
Granted  that  our  modern  youth  know  all  too  little 
of  our  doctrinal  standards,  yet  we  believe  the  shifting 
of  emphasis  has  been  justified.  It  is  as  though  our 
Lord  stood  silent,  listening  to  some  glib  recitation  of 
the  creed  and  then,  when  it  was  finished,  quietly  an- 
swered :  "  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are  ye  if 
ye  do  them."  And  across  the  intervening  centuries 
there  is  wafted  to  us,  as  an  echo  of  the  text,  the  per- 
oration of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount :  "  Whosoever 
heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth  them,  I  will 
liken  him  unto  a  wise  man,  which  built  his  house  upon 
a  rock.  And  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came, 
and  the  winds  blew  and  beat  upon  that  house ;  and  it 
fell  not :  for  it  was  founded  upon  a  rock." 

//.     Emotion:  "  Happy  Are  Ye." 
The  text  says  that  it  is  a  justifiable  thing  to  be 
happy  in  religious  work — in  other  words  it  suggests 


THKEE  GEEAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION  161 

the  place  of  emotion  in  the  Christian  life.  The  search 
for  happiness  has  engaged  the  mind  of  man  ever  since 
man  began  to  be.  Now,  Jesus  Christ  was  no  ascetic 
who  bade  men  crucify  the  emotions;  but  a  normal 
thinker  who  realized  that  each  individual  must  have 
some  beatitude.  The  thing  He  did,  therefore,  was  to 
take  that  ideal,  that  Utopia,  that  beatitude  and  give  it 
the  richest  possible  content.  He  told  the  world  of 
happiness-seekers  that  joy  was  to  be  found  in  doing 
known  duty. 

Now,  this  is  a  new  discovery  of  Jesus :  that  happi- 
ness is  not  an  end  to  be  sought  in  itself,  but  comes  by 
the  way.  It  cannot  be  manufactured  directly,  but  is 
a  by-product ;  in  making  something  else,  you  produce 
it  accidentally.  If  you  are  journeying  on  the  straight 
and  narrow-gauge  track  of  duty,  Happiness  gets  on 
board  at  one  of  the  way-stations ;  but  if  you  telegraph 
ahead  for  her  to  be  sure  to  meet  you,  she  will  not  be 
there.  Josh  Billings  puts  the  thought  in  his  quaint 
way:  "  If  you  ever  find  happiness  by  hunting  for  it, 
you  will  find  it,  as  the  old  woman  did  her  lost  spec- 
tacles, safe  on  her  own  nose  all  the  time." 

Assuming,  then,  that  the  Christian  is  bent  on  doing 
the  will  of  God,  he  ought  to  be  a  happy  man.  We 
read  that  Jesus  rejoiced  in  spirit,  and  that  the  joy  set 
before  Him  held  Him  on  His  lonely  way.  It  is  true, 
as  President  Wilson  says,  that  we  do  not  live  on  intel- 
lectual planes  at  all,  but  on  emotional  planes,  planes 
of  resolution  and  not  planes  of  doctrine.  Therefore, 
we  must  in  our  preaching  lay  siege  to  the  emotional 
level  of  the  hearer's  life,  not  because  we  are  going  to 
neglect  the  rest  of  his  nature,  but  because  this  is  the 


162  THREE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  RELIGION 

most  inflammable  plane  of  his  being,  and  the  presump- 
tion is  that  the  fire  which  starts  in  the  basement  will 
burn  to  the  attic.  The  hope  is,  that  if  we  can  reach 
his  heart,  we  shall  ultimately  reach  his  will.  In  line 
with  this  was  the  judgment  of  Dr.  Chapman  the  evan- 
gelist, who  gave  as  one  of  the  reasons  why  ministers 
fail,  the  fact  that  they  try  the  wrong  method  of  ap- 
proach, by  the  head,  instead  of  by  the  heart.  He 
held  that  argument  invites  argument,  and  for  every 
point  that  you  advance,  the  mind  of  your  hearer  ad- 
vances a  dozen.  The  better  avenue  of  approach  is 
the  broad  highway  of  sorrow  and  joy  which  Jesus 
chose  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount — and,  for  ex- 
ample, instead  of  arguing  the  question  of  purity  of 
heart  in  its  effects  on  mind  and  life,  He  simply  said : 
"  Happy  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see 
God." 

You  wouldn't  want  a  religion  which  appealed  only 
to  the  mind.  Mr.  Balfour  has  well  shown  in  his 
"  Foundations  of  Belief,"  that  any  system  of  religion 
which  was  small  enough  for  our  intellectual  capacity 
could  not  be  large  enough  for  our  spiritual  needs. 
Romanes  is  a  case  in  point :  he  had  rejected  Christi- 
anity because  his  head  was  not  convinced  by  its  argu- 
ments, and  he  refused  to  allow  his  heart  to  have  any- 
thing to  say.  When  he  discovered  that  the  heart  was 
just  as  good  a  witness  as  the  head,  he  let  it  plead  its 
case,  and  to  his  surprise,  it  won ;  and  he  came  strag- 
gling back  to  God. 

Oh,  give  us  a  religion  with  a  soul,  with  magnificent 
enthusiasms  and  splendid  audacity.  I  like  the  man 
who  rose  in  an  inspiring  meeting  and  said,  "  Mr, 


THEEE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION  163 

Chairman,  I  move  we  move  the  world."  Let  us  have 
zeal,  even  though  some  of  it  may  be  zeal  without 
knowledge.  Why  is  it  that  many  college  men  are 
failures?  Because  they  are  crammed  full  of  facts — 
but  so  is  a  dictionary,  and  an  encyclopedia.  What 
is  the  trouble  with  a  dictionary  ?  It  is,  that  it  cannot 
translate  into  emotion  or  action  the  things  it  knows. 
It  will  tell  you  several  pages-full  about  missions,  yet 
never  enthuse  over  them.  It  will  describe  philan- 
thropies, yet  never  do  a  charitable  deed.  So  what- 
ever you  are,  don't  be  a  dictionary.  If  you  know 
these  things,  why  don't  you  do  them? 

Matthew  Arnold's  definition  of  religion  comes  to 
mind.  "  Religion  is  morality  touched  by  emotion ;  it 
is  ethics  heightened  and  kindled  and  lit  up  by  feeling." 
Ah,  you  cannot  have  Christianity  without  tears — you 
may  have  ethical  culture  without  them.  Unitarian- 
ism  is  religion  without  the  Cross,  without  emotion,  and 
is  little  better  than  philosophy.  And  I  believe  the 
reason  why  it  does  not  challenge  a  larger  public  fol- 
lowing is  simply  because  most  men  have  a  heart. 
And  so,  while  emotion  may  be  sadly  overdone,  yet 
God  deliver  us  from  doing  away  with  it  entirely,  for 
it  makes  the  dry  bones  of  logic  to  live,  and  turns  cold 
ethic  into  warm-blooded  passion  for  the  eternal  God. 

///.     Will:    "If  Ye  Do  Them." 

It  is  better  not  to  know,  than  to  know  and  not  to  do. 
This  is  good  psychology  and  it  is  good  theology. 
Professor  James  teaches  it,  and  so  does  Paul.  You 
remember  the  illustration  which  the  Professor  uses, 
of  the  Russian  countess  who  sits  at  the  theatre  on  a 


164  THREE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  RELIGION 

cold  winter  night.  Her  emotions  are  played  upon  by 
the  sad  scene  depicted  on  the  stage,  and  she  sheds 
copious  tears;  and  yet  all  the  while  her  coachman  is 
shivering  on  the  box  of  her  carriage  outside.  She 
does  herself  a  wrong  to  allow  the  emotion  of  pity  to 
be  excited  by  an  imaginary  case,  while  she  refuses  to 
allow  it  to  play  on  the  chords  of  daily  life.  Just  here 
is  the  trouble  with  New  Year's  resolutions.  As  we 
pass  from  one  year  into  the  other  we  are  temporarily 
impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the  flight  of  time,  and 
under  the  stress  of  momentary  excitement,  we  make 
vows  which  we  never  intend  to  keep.  And  when  the 
year  has  gone,  we  are  reminded  that  the  path  to  per- 
dition is  paved  with  good  resolutions,  while  the  path 
to  heaven  is  paved  with  good  performances.  By  this 
test  we  can  tell  which  way  our  path  is  tending.  Do 
we  take  out  our  enthusiasm  in  mottoes  framed  on  the 
wall,  and  pledges  signed  and  put  away  into  dusty 
archives  ?  Or  do  we  translate  our  creed  into  charac- 
ter and  our  promise  into  performance? 

Students  of  art  will  tell  you  that  the  reason  why 
the  arts  attained  so  high  a  degree  of  perfection  in  the 
Middle  Ages  was  because  the  men  who  had  the  mind 
to  design  and  conceive  worked  out  their  ideas  with 
their  own  hands.  Raphael  and  Angelo  and  Cellini 
did  their  own  work.  They  not  only  had  visions,  but 
they  turned  those  visions  into  marble.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  my  text,  they  not  only  knew,  but  also  did. 
This  same  program  will  make  a  man  not  only  an 
artist,  it  will  make  him  a  Christian. 

One  of  the  greatest  things  which  Jesus  did  for  re- 
ligion was  to  make  it  practical  in  its  nature.    There 


THEEE  GEEAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION  165 

are  other  systems  of  faith  which  merely  require  their 
devotees  to  memorize  the  creed  or  to  turn  the  prayer- 
wheel  mechanically.  But  Christ  teaches  a  religion 
which  finds  a  practical  outlet  into  life.  The  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  is  not  merely  a  New  Testament  volume, 
but  a  daily  reincarnation  of  the  spirit  of  the  Naza- 
rene.  We  talk  about  translations  of  the  Bible — do 
you  know  the  best  translation  of  the  Bible  I  have  ever 
seen?  Il  is  the  Bible  translated  into  life,  into  new 
manhood  and  womanhood  and  childhood.  When 
Jesus  took  the  twelve  disciples  into  His  school  of 
training,  His  object  was  not  to  tell  them  a  lot  of  new 
things  and  then  graduate  them  with  cap  and  gown 
and  degree.  No,  He  took  them  to  transform  their 
lives,  and  make  them  epistles  known  and  read  of  all 
men.  Instead  of  knowing  books,  they  were  to  be 
books. 

The  most  amazing  revival  of  the  Church  since 
Pentecost  would  break  out  to-morrow  if  its  members 
would  begin  just  to  do  what  they  know.  The  whole 
modern  missionary  movement  goes  back  to  that  un- 
forgetable  day  when  the  cobbler  Carey  had  the  au- 
dacity to  ask  at  a  Baptist  assembly  if  Christ's  com- 
mand to  the  apostles  to  go  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  v^^as  still  binding. 
As  soon  as  he  knew,  he  went  and  did — and  the  world 
knows  the  rest.  Carey  is  one  of  the  heroes  of  mis- 
sions, and  yet  after  all,  all  that  he  did  was  simply  to 
make  the  connection  between  his  intellect,  his  emo- 
tion, and  his  will. 

It  all  comes  to  this:  whether  we  are  willing  to 
bridge  the  gap  between  theory  and  life.     There  are 


166  THREE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  RELIGION 

many  other  men  besides  Moses  and  Jonah  and  Ana- 
nias who  have  run  away  from  duty.  Many  a  man 
takes  ship  to  carry  his  feet  in  the  opposite  direction 
from  his  head.  He  knows  where  he  ought  to  go,  but 
insists  on  buying  his  ticket  the  other  way.  The  pic- 
ture of  Jonah  running  away  from  the  call  of  God,  and 
buying  his  passage  to  Tarshish  when  duty  lay  in  the 
direction  of  Nineveh,  is  a  parable  of  life.  "Are  you 
going  to  spend  your  whole  life  saying  '  ought '  ?  "  asks 
Bernard  Shaw.  "  Turn  your  '  oughts  '  into  '  shalls/ 
man,"    That  is  what  we  need  to  do. 

"  I  said :  '  Let  me  walk  in  the  fields.' 
He  said :  '  No,  walk  in  the  town.' 
I  said :  "  There  are  no  flowers  there.'' 
He  said :  '  No  flowers,  but  a  crown.' 

"  I  said :  '  But  the  skies  are  black ; 

There  is  nothing  but  noise  and  din.' 
And  he  wept,  as  He  sent  me  back — 
'  There  is  more,'  He  said,  '  There  is  sin.* 

"  Then  into  His  hand  went  mine ; 
And  into  my  heart  came  He; 
And  I  walk  in  a  light  divine, 
The  path  I  had  feared  to  see." 

In  the  year  1900,  foreigners  of  Pekin  were  be- 
sieged by  the  Boxers.  The  various  powers  had 
landed  their  forces  near  Tientsin.  One  morning  a 
council  of  war  was  held  in  the  latter  city  to  determine 
whether  the  international  army  should  march  on  the 
capital.  One  after  another  of  the  commanders — 
British,  German,  French,  Russian  and  Japanese — rose 
and  solemnly  stated  that  the  advance  must  necessarily 


THEEE  GREAT  ELEMENTS  IN  EELIGION  167 

be  futile.  After  all  the  rest  had  spoken,  however. 
General  Chaffee,  the  American  commander,  arose  in 
his  place,  not  to  make  a  speech,  but  only  to  utter  a 
single  sentence.  "  I  desire  to  say  that  the  American 
troops  will  march  for  Pekin  at  9 :  30  to-morrow  morn- 
ing." And  march  they  did.  And  the  others  went 
with  them,  and  the  siege  was  raised  without  a  single 
serious  battle.  Do  you  know  why  General  Chaffee 
was  so  determined  in  his  stand?  Because  the  day 
before  that  meeting  in  Tientsin  he  had  received  a 
cablegram  from  Secretary  Root  which  read  as  fol- 
lows :  "  March  at  once  on  Pekin.  The  American 
nation  is  behind  you."  Ah,  my  brethren,  would  that 
the  soldiers  of  the  Christ  were  as  loyal  as  those  of  the 
United  States.  "  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are 
ye  if  ye  do  them." 


V 


XI 

THE  PROGRAM  OF  A  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE 

"Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended;  but 
this  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind, 
and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I 
press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize." — Phiwppians  3 :  13,  14. 

IliOVE  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  It  is  a 
pastoral  letter  written  by  a  preacher  who  had 
been  arrested  by  the  Roman  Government,  to  a 
people  whom  he  loved,  I  think  Paul  was  more  de- 
voted to  the  Philippians  than  to  the  people  of  any 
other  church  he  had  founded,  because  they  stand  out 
above  all  others  for  their  cordiality  to  the  man  who 
had  brought  them  the  Gospel.  Their  church  had  now 
attained  eleven  years  of  growth,  and  yet  had  not  for- 
gotten him.  At  this  particular  time  Epaphroditus 
had  arrived  after  a  dangerous  journey,  bringing  with 
him  supplies  for  the  Apostle's  wants,  and  Paul  sits 
down  and  writes  a  letter  overflowing  with  apprecia- 
tion and  gratitude. 

I  wonder  if  I  may  make  a  comparison.  Paul  loved 
the  people  of  his  parish.  So  do  I.  They  had  re- 
sponded freely  to  Paul's  needs  and  desires.  So  have 
mine.  They  were  singularly  free  from  the  factions 
and  troubles  of  many  of  these  early  churches.  The 
same  is  true  of  my  people.  But  Paul  feared  that  just 
because  things  were  going  so  well  with  them,  they 
might  become  self-satisfied,  and  get  into  a  rut  of  com- 

168 


PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIYE  LIFE    169 

placency,  and  cease  to  grow  and  develop  in  the  Chris- 
tian Hfe.  So  do  I.  Hence,  he  wrote  them,  when  he 
was  half  through  with  his  letter,  the  words  of  my 
text :  this  appeal  for  progress,  this  call  to  the  heights, 
which  I  have  taken  for  our  meditation  to-day.  Is  it 
not  an  appropriate  message  for  us  as  we  stand  on  tliis 
first  Sabbath  of  our  new  Church  year — the  program 
of  a  progressive  life :  "  Brethren,  I  count  not  myself 
to  have  apprehended ;  but  this  one  thing  I  do,  forget- 
ting those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth 
unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the 
mark  for  the  prize." 

Did  you  ever  see  a  man  unlock  his  soul  ?  That  is 
what  Paul  does  here.  He  unlocks  the  safety  deposit 
vault  of  his  very  being  in  these  five  verses  which  clus- 
ter about  my  text.  He  puts  all  the  passion  of  his  life 
into  five  words :  "  that  I  may  know  Him."  We 
stand  in  the  holy  of  holies  of  the  Apostle.  He  shows 
us  the  ground  plan  and  specifications  of  that  wonder- 
ful career.  Here  you  have  his  Thirty-nine  Articles, 
his  Confession  of  Faith,  his  Shorter  Catechism, 
Magna  Charta,  Declaration  of  Independence,  Foot- 
path to  Peace, — all  in  one.  My  text  is  his  five- 
pointed  star,  his  formula  for  success.  Somebody 
once  wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  How  to  Succeed — 
Five  Cents."  Here  Paul  tells  us  without  cost.  Let 
us  listen  to  him. 

You  can  very  easily  touch  the  five  points  of  the 
star:  "Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have  appre- 
hended"— first  of  all,  a  discontented  present;  "but 
forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind" — a  for- 
gotten past ;  "  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things 


170    PROGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE 

which  are  before  " — a  beckoning  future ;  "  This  one 
thing  I  do  " — a  unified  aim ;  "  I  press  toward  the  goal 
for  the  prize  " — a  strenuous  race.  We  have  thus  run 
around  the  circumference  and  touched  the  points  of 
the  star.  Now,  let  us  move  in  from  the  periphery  to 
the  center.  Let  us  get  at  the  heart  of  Paul's  program 
if  we  can. 

/.    A  Discontented  Present. 

Well,  there  is  hope  for  any  man  who  begins  that 
way:  "Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have  appre- 
hended; I  do  not  claim  to  have  reached  the  top." 
These  perfectionists  who  claim  to  be  completely  sanc- 
tified, these  smug  warriors  against  the  Devil  who  go 
around  wearing  a  sign  saying,  "  The  war  is  over — 
don't  touch  us,  we're  just  waiting  for  wings," — they 
get  on  my  nerves.  They  remind  me  of  so  many  of 
those  Eastern  people  who  come  out  here  to  spend 
their  declining  days.  They  have  had  the  struggle  and 
the  fight  back  beyond  the  Mississippi,  and  they  have 
come  out  here  to  die  in  peace,  and  they  don't  want 
God,  or  the  Church,  or  the  preacher,  or  anybody  else 
that  represents  struggle  or  effort,  to  bother  them.  They 
say,  "Let  us  alone."  Did  you  know  that  the  expression 
*'  Let  us  alone  "  occurs  only  twice  in  the  Word  of  God 
— once  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  once  in  the  New? 
In  the  Old  Testament  reference,  the  foolish  Israelites 
said  to  Moses,  "  Let  us  alone,  that  we  may  serve  the 
Egyptians."  Away  back  there  this  plea  was  a  denial 
of  progress.  "  Let  us  alone.  Don't  lead  us  out. 
You  might  start  something."  And  Moses  certainly 
did.     The  New  Testament  reference  is  the  cry  of  the 


PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE    171 

devils  in  the  Capernaum  synagogue :  "  Let  us  alone ; 
what  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth?" And  that  is  what  the  entrenched  devils  of 
crime  and  wrong  always  say :  "  Let  us  alone."  But 
the  sons  of  God  always  reply,  "  Carry  on." 

So  I  am  a  preacher  of  discontent  this  morning.  I 
am  glad  the  Bible  does  not  say  much  about  being 
satisfied  spiritually.  "  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I 
awake  in  thy  likeness."  In  other  words,  don't  adjust 
yourself  comfortably  in  an  easy  chair  and  go  to  sleep, 
for  you  don't  belong  here ;  you  are  due  to  go  higher 
yet.  Your  motto  is,  "  Excelsior."  In  Chesterton's 
story,  "  The  Man  Who  Was  Thursday,"  the  men  are 
named  after  the  several  days  of  the  week,  and  the 
crowd  get  angry  at  the  man  who  was  Simday,  be- 
cause he  stood  for  rest  and  quiet  and  contentment; 
while  the  man  who  was  Thursday  represents  dissatis- 
faction with  the  present  order,  and  the  striving  for 
better  things.  Sunday  was  the  Stand-patter  of  the 
old  regime,  while  Thursday  was  the  Progressive  who 
was  trying  to  usher  in  through  storm  and  tumult  the 
better  day ;  and  between  the  two,  my  sympathies  are 
more  inclined  to  Thursday  than  to  the  othe-r. 

The  Present  Tense  is  an  awful  tyrant.  Over  many 
a  grave  it  might  be  written :  "  This  man  died  of  the 
present  tense."  God  pity  the  man  who  could  never 
say  "  To-morrow,"  and  who  could  never  say  "  Yes- 
terday," but  must  only  say  "  To-day."  What  if  you 
had  neither  memory  nor  imagination — nothing  but 
toil?  If  the  memory  of  yesterday  were  obliterated, 
and  the  hope  of  to-morrow  banished,  and  nothing  left 
but  the  work  of  to-day,  a  man  would  shrivel  to  a 


172    PROGRAM  OF  A  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE 

meager  soul.  I  am  not  going  to  rest  in  the  mud  of 
to-day.  I  am  going  on  to  the  stars  of  to-morrow.  I 
am  not  going  to  take  a  fifty-year  lease  on  this  little 
home  on  the  side  street.  I  am  going  to  have  a  brown 
stone  front  on  the  avenue.  I  am  not  going  to  do 
business  in  a  two-by-four  shop  forever.  I  am  going 
to  have  a  department  store  some  day.  I  am  not  going 
to  ask  for  some  sort  of  spiritual  soothing  syrup  to  lull 
me  to  sleep.  I  would  rather  pray  for  a  thorn  in  the 
flesh  to  buffet  me  and  keep  me  forever  pegging,  peg- 
ging on  my  way. 

Kipling  puts  the  idea  well  for  us  in  his  poem,  "  The 
Explorer." 

'"There's  no  sense  in  going  further — it's  the  edge  of 

cultivation ; ' 
So  they  said,  and  I  believed  it,  broke  my  land  and 

sowed  my  crop; 
Built  my  barns  and  strung  my  fences,  in  the  little 

border  station 
Tucked  away  below  the  foot-hills  where  the  trails  run 

out  and  stop." 

(Then  the  man  seems  to  become  satisfied  with  the 
present  tense,  and  to  lose  the  call  of  the  beyond.) 

"  Till  a  voice  as  bad  as  Conscience  rang  interminable 
changes 

On  one  everlasting  whisper,  day  and  night  repeated — 
so: 

'Something  hidden.  Go  and  find  it.  Go  and  look  be- 
hind the  Ranges — 

Something  lost  behind  the  Ranges;  lost  and  waiting 
for  you — Go.' 

So  I  went,  worn  out  of  patience;  never  told  my 
nearest  neighbours." 


PROGRAM  OF  A  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE    173 

(Of  course  not;  they  would  have  glued  him  there.) 

"  Then  I  knew  the  while  I  doubted,  knew  His  hand 

was  certain  o'er  me. 
Still  it  might  be  self-delusion — scores  of  better  men 

had  died. 
I  could  reach  the  township  living,  but    ...    He 

knows  what  terrors  tore  me; 
But  I  didn't,  but  I  didn't.    I  went  down  the  other 

side." 

Nothing  is  more  tragic  than  a  lost  ideal.  Paul 
uses  a  word  in  this  text  which  is  significant.  He 
says,  "  I  am  pressing  toward  the  goal  for  the  prize  " 
—and  what  is  the  prize?  Not  the  high  calling  of 
God — that's  the  old  translation.  The  prize  is  the  up- 
ward calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  You  see  there 
is  the  climbing  still.  Even  the  goal  is  not  stagnation, 
but  progress :  so  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  stand- 
ing still  in  the  Christian  life.  The  Christian  is  like  a 
man  riding  a  bicycle :  he  is  either  going  on,  or  else  he 
is  going  off.  Here  are  two  artists  I  bring  before  you 
for  the  sake  of  contrast.  One,  standing  before  his 
latest  production,  burst  into  tears  exclaiming,  "  I  shall 
never  do  anything  great  again,  because  I  am  satisfied 
with  my  work."  There  was  the  tragedy.  His  hand 
had  caught  up  with  his  brain,  and  there  was  no  room 
for  growth.  On  the  other  hand,  the  widow  of  the 
great  artist  Opie  said  that  in  the  nine  years  she  was 
his  wife  she  never  once  saw  him  satisfied  with  his 
work.  Often  he  would  enter  the  room  and  throw 
himself  down  in  despair,  crying,  "  I  shall  never  be  a 
painter  as  long  as  I  live."  That  is  the  heahhy  dis- 
satisfaction which  means  progress.     So  it  is  in  the 


174    PROGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE 

Christian  life.  I  remember  the  letter  which  Dr. 
Speer  says  he  received  in  the  Foreign  Mission  Board 
office  some  years  ago  from  a  man  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
who  was  offering  himself  for  missionary  service,  and 
he  began  by  saying  that  he  had  entirely  consecrated 
himself  to  the  Saviour's  work.  He  said  he  had  been 
fully  and  completely  baptized  with  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  he  felt  he  was  entirely  qualified  for  the  work  re- 
quired of  him.  Dr.  Speer's  first  comment  after  read- 
ing the  letter  was  this :  "  Now,  what  can  you  do  with 
a  man  like  that?  Is  there  any  hope  left  for  such  a 
man  ?  "  The  trouble,  my  friends,  with  the  man  was, 
that  he  had  caught  up  to  his  stars.  He  forgot  that  an 
ideal  is  by  hypothesis  unrealizable,  and  the  Foreign 
Board  people  thought  that  he  had  never  read  Philip- 
pians  3:12.  I  commend  it  to  all  who  think  they  have 
graduated  with  honours  from  the  University  of  the 
Christian  Life.  Ah,  but  give  me,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  men  of  the  long  look  and  the  distant  vision,  who 
say: 

"  We  were  dreamers,  dreaming  greatly,  in  the  man- 
stifled  town; 
We  yearned  beyond  the  sky-line,  where  the  strange 
roads  go  down." 

II.    A  Forgotten  Past, 

Paul  made  a  parenthesis  in  this  letter.  He  had 
been  talking  about  family  trees,  and  he  said :  "  Now, 
just  by  way  of  parenthesis,  I  will  tell  you  something 
of  my  own  family  tree.  The  fact  is,  I  am  somebody." 
And  then  after  telling  them  how  his  "  ancestors  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower,"  he  says :  "  But  don't  misun- 
derstand me.     I  am  not  counting  on  social  position. 


PEOGRAM  OF  A  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE    175 

I  leave  all  that  for  Christ.  To  be  sure,  I  have  written 
some  great  epistles,  and  founded  some  noble  churches, 
and  been  caught  up  into  paradise,  and  heard  things 
which  it  is  not  lawful  for  man  to  utter.  But  what- 
ever my  past  has  been,  I  have  forgotten  it  all.  I  am 
pressing  on  to  Him." 

Now,  it  is  a  significant  fact  to  me  that  God  has  so 
made  us  that  we  always  face  frontward.  We  turn 
our  backs  to  what  is  behind  us.  What  is  more  pathetic 
than  to  see  a  man  with  his  face  turned  the  wrong 
way  ?  A  friend  of  mine  saw  such  a  man  in  a  museum 
in  New  York  City,  and  he  said :  "  He  reminds  me  of 
some  of  the  officers  of  my  church ;  he  can  never  see 
a  thing  until  after  it  has  happened."  Lot's  wife  is  a 
standing  illustration  in  Scripture  of  the  tragedy  of 
the  backward  look.  At  a  time  when  progress  was  the 
demand  of  the  hour,  and  her  safety  consisted  in  going 
forward,  she  insisted  on  looking  back,  with  the  result 
that  she  was  enveloped  by  the  salty  flame ;  and  Jesus, 
looking  back  to  her  across  the  chasm  of  the  centuries, 
said  with  warning  voice,  "  Remember  Lot's  wife." 

Thank  God,  the  Gospel  I  preach  says  a  man  can 
forget  his  past.  When  Byron's  "  Manfred  "  is  dying, 
he  summons  the  spirits  to  his  bedside  and  asks  them 
to  wipe  out  his  past,  to  which  they  make  reply :  "  It  is 
not  in  our  power,  it  is  not  in  our  essence — but  thou 
mayest  die."  And  when  he  eagerly  asks,  "  Will 
Death  confer  it  on  me  ? "  they  make  reply,  "  We  are 
immortal,  and  do  not  forget."  Of  course  there  is  a 
sense  in  which  my  past  clings  to  me  and  hounds  me 
like  a  shadow;  but  Jesus  taught  that  a  man  belongs 
not  to  the  place  he  is  coming  from,  but  to  the  place  he 


176    PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE 

is  going  to.  That  is  why  He  said  to  the  dying  thief, 
"  To-day — Paradise."  The  place  the  man  came  from 
was  Latrum,  but  Jesus  made  him  a  resident  of  his 
new  home.  The  Hfe  he  came  from  was  awful.  The 
life  he  was  going  to  was  clean  and  beautiful.  Jesus 
turned  him  right  about  face  for  heaven.  So  when 
the  scarlet  woman  was  brought  to  Jesus,  the  differ- 
ence between  the  attitude  of  the  Jewish  policemen  and 
the  attitude  of  Christ  was  due  entirely  to  the  different 
things  they  v/ere  looking  at.  The  men  looked  at  what 
she  was;  Jesus  looked  at  what  she  was  going  to  be. 
They  said  she  was  a  sinner,  and  must  be  stoned. 
Jesus  said,  "  Go  into  peace  and  purity."  And  away 
she  went  from  her  ramshackle,  tumble-down  past,  out 
into  the  glorious  light  and  liberty  of  the  children  of 
God. 

Christianity  is  the  annihilation  of  Yesterday.  One 
thing  Jesus  loves  to  do  for  a  life  is  to  shut  the  door 
on  the  room  we  call  Yesterday,  and  open  up  the  door 
of  the  room  we  call  To-morrow.  He  likes  to  let  a 
little  sunshine  in.  You  remember  the  man  who  came 
to  Moses  and  said,  "  Aren't  you  the  man  who  slew  an 
Egyptian  yesterday  ?  "  Yesterday !  Who  cares  what 
you  did  yesterday?  You  don't  belong  to  Yesterday. 
God  owns  it,  and  you  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
it.  It  is  in  the  cemetery,  and  your  place  is  not  among 
the  tombs.  God  is  willing  to  forgive  all  your  blood- 
red  yesterdays  if  you  ask  Him,  and  give  you  a  cer- 
tificate entitling  you  to  a  clean  To-morrow.  Over  in 
Dresden  some  years  ago  a  sort  of  Jean  Valjean  was 
discovered.  A  certain  Mr.  Charles  May,  an  author 
and  a  millionaire  philanthropist,  was  living  there,  re- 


PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE    177 

garded  as  one  of  the  foremost  citizens  of  the  king- 
dom. Along  came  a  sociaHst  who  unmasked  his  iden- 
tity, and  proved  him  to  have  been  a  desperado  of 
forty  years  before.  That  is  always  the  way  when 
somebody  tries  to  live  down  his  past:  these  unholy 
grave-diggers  get  together,  and  try  to  unearth  the 
skeleton  of  the  day  before  yesterday  or  the  year  be- 
fore last.  In  the  name  of  the  dying  Jesus  who  for- 
gave the  repentant  thief,  let  bygones  be  bygones! 
This  was  Colonel  Hadley's  plan  in  the  work  of  the 
Water  Street  Mission.  He  said  he  never  inquired 
into  the  record  of  any  one,  no  matter  how  dark  it 
was ;  for  God  was  willing  to  forget,  and  why  should 
not  he  do  so  ? 

///.     A  Beckoning  Future. 

When  David  Livingstone  broke  fresh  ground 
among  the  Bakkhatlas,  he  wrote  to  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  explaining  what  he  had  done,  and 
expressing  hope  of  their  approval.  At  the  same  time, 
he  professed  his  willingness  to  go  anywhere  they 
wished  to  send  him,  with  this  one  proviso:  "Any- 
where, provided  it  be  forward."  That  is  a  good 
motto  for  any  life  and  for  any  Church :  "  Anywhere, 
provided  it  be  forward." 

The  thing  that  makes  life  worth  while  Is  the  gap 
between  the  actual  and  the  ideal.  God  has  purposely 
made  this  gap  pretty  wide,  and  we  have  to  fight  our 
way  out  of  the  trenches  of  the  past,  over  the  no- 
man's-land  of  to-day,  into  the  enemies'  castles  of  to- 
morrow. How  often  you  catch  this  note  of  struggle 
in  Paul.     Hear  him  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians, 


178    PEOGRAM  OF  A  PROGEESSIVE  LIFE 

as  he  tells  the  people  of  Colosse  that  he  is  preaching 
and  warning  and  teaching  and  labouring  and  striving 
and  working — six  verbs  crowded  into  one  sentence. 
Why  ?  "  That  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in 
Christ  Jesus."  Hear  him  again  when  he  says,  "  Till 
we  all  come  to  a  perfect  man,  to  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ."  And  listen  again 
in  the  words  of  our  own  epistle :  "  That  I  may  know 
Him,  and  the  power  of  His  resurrection,  I  put  myself 
on  the  stretch," — that  is  the  original — "  I  agonize, 
reaching  forth  to  the  prize  and  the  goal  beyond."  So, 
I  say,  that  is  the  thing  that  makes  any  life  worth 
while,  to  have  beyond  itself  a  goal  so  big  and  high 
that  life  becomes  a  continual  struggle  to  attain  it. 

Now,  Jesus  Christ  alone,  of  all  religious  teachers, 
offers  you  such  a  worthy  goal.  Confucianism,  for 
example,  puts  the  prize  lower  down,  and  within  easier 
reach.  When  Mr.  Wu  Ting  Fang  was  in  this  coun- 
try, he  said  that  his  criticism  of  Christianity  was  that 
it  offered  an  unattainable  goal,  while  Confucianism 
did  not.  But  this  is  the  blessing  of  Christianity  in- 
stead of  its  curse.  I  remember  hearing  an  old  min- 
ister say :  "  I  don't  like  that  hymn,  *  I  want  to  be  an 
angel,  and  with  the  angels  stand.'  "  He  said :  "  I 
don't;  I  want  to  be  a  sinner,  saved  by  grace."  So 
say  I,  for  the  angels  have  never  known  the  luxury  of 
the  struggle  which  you  and  I  know.  You  college 
men  know  how  they  do  in  athletic  meets.  They  have 
a  receding  goal.  It  is  like  what  Paul  calls  "  the  up- 
ward calling."  I  have  stood  out  in  the  stadium  of  old 
Washington  University  and  watched  the  men  in  the 
pole-vault  and  the  hammer-throw  and  the  220-yard 


PEOGRAM  OF  A  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE    179 

dash.  I  remember  especially  in  the  case  of  the  pole- 
vault,  how  the  man  would  go  over  the  tape  at  a  cer- 
tain height,  and  then  what  happened?  They  hon- 
oured the  man  by  giving  him  an  ever  heightening  goal, 
so  that  he  must  continually  say,  "  I  press  toward  the 
mark  for  the  prize."  No  matter  if  he  had  already 
broken  the  'Varsity  or  the  State  record ;  he  must  still 
fight  on,  for  other  honours  were  waiting  to  be  won. 

William  Watson  puts  it  well  in  "  The  Dream  of 
Man,"  when  he  represents  God  as  saying  to  His 
creature,  man,  that  the  latter's  lot  was  more  blessed 
than  His,  because  of  the  blessing  of  struggle.  God 
is  represented  as  saying: 

"  I  taste  not  the  delight  of  seeking, 
Nor  the  boon  of  longing  know; 
There  is  but  one  joy  transcendant, 
And  I  hoard  it  not,  but  bestow. 
I  hoard  it  not,  nor  have  tasted. 
But  freely  I  give  it  to  thee — 
The  joy  of  most  glorious  striving, 
Which  dieth  in  victory." 

IV.     A  Unified  Aim. 

Paul  could  never  do  a  thing  half-way.  He  was  an 
intense  man.  He  threw  his  whole  soul  into  what  he 
did.  He  was  not  like  the  man  described  by  the 
writer  of  an  obituary  in  a  country  newspaper,  who 
said  the  deceased  had  been  a  Christian  "  off  and  on 
for  forty  years."  No,  Paul  was  either  entirely  off  or 
entirely  on.  He  knew  it  was  dangerous  to  be  half 
on  and  half  off.  When  he  was  a  lad  sitting  at  the 
feet  of  Gamaliel,  he  did  just  one  thing:  he  got  an  edu- 
cation.   When  he  grew  up  and  became  an  orthodox 


180    PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE 

Pharisee,  he  did  just  one  thing:  he  made  it  hot  for 
any  Christians  who  came  his  way.  When  he  was 
converted  by  that  divine  sunstroke  on  the  Damascus 
highway,  he  asked  just  one  question:  "What  wilt 
thou  have  me  to  do  ? "  And  from  that  time  on  he 
could  say,  as  one  of  the  later  saints  of  the  Church 
said :   "  I  have  but  one  passion :  it  is  He." 

Need  I  illustrate  the  power  of  concentration  in 
daily  life?  We  all  recognize  it.  When  the  famous 
DeWitt,  one  of  the  busiest  statesmen  of  his  time,  was 
asked  how  he  was  able  to  do  so  many  things,  he  said 
that  his  whole  art  consisted  simply  in  doing  one  thing 
at  a  time.  A  friend  asked  Sir  James  Scarlett  what 
was  the  secret  of  his  preeminent  success  as  a  lawyer, 
and  he  replied  that  he  always  took  care  to  press  home 
the  one  principal  point  of  the  case,  without  paying 
much  heed  to  the  others;  he  hammered  home  one 
point.  And  just  as  the  world  has  always  said,  "Beware 
of  the  man  of  one  book,"  so  we  may  equally  well  say : 
"  Beware  of  the  man  of  one  aim ;  look  out  for  the  man 
of  the  single  eye."  St.  Jerome  was  pastor  of  a  large 
congregation,  but  he  had  one  burning  ambition.  He 
said  to  his  people :  "  It  is  of  necessity  that  the  New 
Testament  should  be  translated.  You  must  find  an- 
other preacher.  I  am  bound  for  the  wilderness,  and 
shall  not  return  until  my  task  is  firrished."  So  away 
he  went  with  his  manuscripts  into  the  desert,  and 
laboured  and  prayed  until  the  task  was  done,  and  he 
gave  to  the  world  the  Latin  Vulgate,  which  will  last 
until  the  end  of  time,  because  he  was  a  man  of  the 
unified  aim.  And  so  it  is  always.  Boys  who  like 
Confucius'  son  try  to  master  too  many  things,  who 


PEOGRAM  OB'  A  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE    181 

scatter  their  energies  too  widely,  need  a  wise  father 
to  say  to  them,  as  Confucius  did,  "  Omit  some  of 
your  pursuits,  and  you  will  get  on  better." 

The  business  world  has  long  since  applied  this 
motto  of  Paul's.  Big  business  advertises  for  special- 
ists, not  for  "  also  rans."  The  world  wants  a  man 
who  can  set  type,  sell  insurance,  run  a  Corliss  engine, 
write  a  poem,  paint  a  sunset,  preach  a  sermon,  better 
than  any  other  available  man.  It  won't  do  for  a  man 
to  reply,  "  I  can  paint  a  little,  and  write  a  little,  and 
preach  a  little."  No,  the  world  would  say  to  such  an 
one :  "  You  remind  us  too  much  of  a  crazy-quilt. 
You  suggest  succotash.  What  we  want  is  an  expert." 
And  for  a  motto  the  world  goes  back  to  Paul :  "  This 
one  thing  I  do." 

Now  then,  it  remains  for  me  to  say  that  we  ought 
to  have  kingdom  specialists  as  well  as  worldly  spe- 
cialists. If  Edison  could  sit  up  all  night  to  make  his 
machine  pronounce  the  letter  S,  it  seems  to  me  some- 
body else  should  sit  up  all  night  to  save  a  soul.  If 
people  will  canvass  the  city  for  Liberty  Bonds,  it 
seems  that  other  folks  might  canvass  the  city  for 
Foreign  Missions.  You  run  on  your  track,  and  let 
me  run  on  mine.  But  just  because  your  engine  pulls 
into  a  station  called  Business  Success,  and  mine  pulls 
into  a  terminal  marked  Heaven's  Approval,  that  does 
not  mean  that  your  engine  ought  to  work  any  harder 
than  mine.  Oh,  men  and  women  of  the  successful 
business  career,  give  some  of  that  splendid  energy 
over  here  to  the  engine  on  the  other  track,  so  that 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  cause  may  go  over  the  top  as 
well  as  everything  else. 


182    PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEEOSIVE  LIFE 

V.     A  Strenuous  Race. 

Paul  proceeds  here  on  the  method  of  postponed 
surprises.  He  lifts  the  curtain  just  an  inch  at  a  time. 
He  keeps  us  on  tiptoe  waiting  for  his  main  verb. 
Everything  else  has  been  in  the  nature  of  a  participle 
statement.  Let  me  rewrite  the  text  thus :  "  Breth- 
ren, not  being  satisfied  with  present  attainment  (yes, 
there  is  the  discontented  present),  and  forgetting 
those  things  which  are  behind  (yes,  there  is  the  for- 
gotten past),  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which 
are  before  (the  beckoning  future),  this  one  thing  I 
do."  (Well,  hurry  up,  Paul;  tell  us  what  it  is;  you 
have  kept  us  waiting  so  long  for  the  main  verb)  :  "  I 
press  toward  the  goal."  "  There  it  is,"  says  Paul, 
"  I  am  using  the  figure  of  a  Roman  runner." 

Now,  let  us  see  how  aptly  the  figure  applies. 
Fancy  a  runner,  a  trained  athlete,  down  in  the  Roman 
stadium,  with  the  balconies  full  of  eager  eyes  watch- 
ing him  and  the  other  contestants  as  they  strive  for 
the  mastery.  Well,  of  course  it  stands  to  reason  at 
the  outset  that  he  must  be  dissatisfied  with  present 
attainment,  for  if  he  is  perfectly  content  he  will  stand 
where  he  is,  and  all  the.others  will  pass  him  by.  No 
hero  was  ever  bound  by  the  chains  of  the  present 
tense.  Then  again,  he  must  forget  those  behind 
him.  Often  you  will  hear  the  trainer  giving  direc- 
tions to  the  athlete,  such  as  to  count  his  steps  and 
watch  the  footprints  of  the  men  in  front  of  him,  but 
you  will  never  hear  him  tell  him  to  look  around  at 
those  behind :  not  at  all ;  he  forgets  the  rear,  and  he 
courts  the  front.  Then  again,  he  reaches  forth  unto 
those  things  which  are  before,  keeping  his  eye  ever 


PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE    183 

fastened  liH  the  judges'  seat.  He  concentrates.  He 
does  just  one  thing.  For  him  the  whole  universe  is 
shut  out  that  day,  and  there  is  only  one  thing  worth 
while,  and  that  is,  winning  that  race.  Fancy  some- 
body calling  from  the  sidelines,  "  Oh,  runner,  your 
house  is  on  fire."  He  would  reply :  "  Never  mind ; 
let  the  fire  company  put  it  out;  I  am  winning  this 
race."  Fancy  another  saying,  "  Oh,  athlete,  quick ! 
your  bank  has  gone  to  the  wall,  and  the  investments 
of  the  years  are  lost."  "  Never  mind ;  let  Wall  Street 
worry  about  the  bank  at  the  wall ;  I  have  no  time  to 
stop  now ;  I  am  winning  this  race."  So  you  come  to 
the  last  thing  Paul  says :  "  I  press  toward  the  goal. 
I  put  myself  on  the  stretch.  I  expect  no  seven-league 
boots  to  carry  me  over  the  course.  I  shall  fight  my 
way  to  victory." 

Isaac  Watts  was  certainly  a  typical  Christian  ath- 
lete when  he  wrote  the  words : 

"  Must  I  be  carried  to  the  skies 

On  flowery  beds  of  ease, 
While  others  fought  to  win  the  prize, 

And  sailed  through  bloody  seas? 
Are  there  no  foes  for  me  to  face? 

Must  I  not  stem  the  flood? 
Is  this  vile  world  a  friend  to  grace. 

To  help  me  on  to  God? 
Sure  I  must  fight  if  I  would  reign; 

Increase  my  courage,  Lord : 
I'll  bear  the  toil,  endure  the  pain, 

Supported  by  Thy  Word." 

I  remember  so  well  an  incident  of  my  college  days. 
Dr.  Hall,  our  Professor  of  Greek,  had  a  boy  known 
all  over  the  college  as  "  Son  Will."    Will  was  not 


184    PEOGEAM  OF  A  PEOGEESSIVE  LIFE 

fond  of  Greek,  but  he  could  run.  So  on  i  jj  .  long  hot 
afternoons,  while  the  rest  of  us  pegged  away  at  Greek 
drama.  Son  Will  would  be  excused,  and  would  go  out 
on  the  'Varsity  course  and  train.  When  the  day  of 
the  meet  came,  the  boy's  mother  asked  Dr.  Hall  if  he 
were  going  out  to  see  Will  run.  The  Professor  re- 
plied in  the  negative.  "  Why,  Will  couldn't  win  any- 
thing ;  he  couldn't  even  parse  a  Greek  verb  " — which 
was  conclusive  logic.  Well,  to  make  a  long  story 
short,  the  Professor  went.  At  first  he  looked  on  lan- 
guidly. He  did  not  care  to  have  anybody  know  he 
was  there.  He  knew  Will  couldn't  win.  As  the 
athletes  started  out.  Will  was  last.  There  were  six 
runners,  and  he  was  No.  6.  Dr.  Hall  said  to  him- 
self, "  I  told  you  so."  After  the  first  lap,  however. 
Will  had  passed  No.  5,  and  was  fifth  himself.  After 
the  second  lap,  he  was  fourth.  After  the  third  lap,  he 
was  third.  Then  he  began  to  let  himself  out ;  he  had 
been  husbanding  his  strength ;  and  Dr.  Hall  said  "he 
found  himself  reaching  for  his  handkerclilef.  After 
the  fourth  lap  Will  was  second  in  the  race,  and  they 
had  only  one  more  lap  to  run.  Just  as  the  racers 
passed  the  spot  opposite  to  the  grandstand,  with  half 
a  lap  yet  to  go,  Dr.  Hall  found  himself  waving  his 
handkerchief  frantically,  and  crying  out,  "  Go  it, 
Will ! "  Will  sprinted  up  and  passed  his  opponent, 
and  dashed  home  winner.  Then  Dr.  Hall  turned  to 
the  bystanders  and  said,  "  That  is  my  boy."  Will 
had  pressed  toward  the  goal  for  the  prize. 

Now,  my  friends,  you  and  I  are  athletes  too,  after 
a  bigger  prize  than  Will  was  after,  "  the  upward  call- 
ing of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."    We  are  not  always 


PEOGRAM  OF  A  PROGRESSIVE  LIFE    185 

overwhelmed  with  rosebuds,  or  deafened  by  applause. 
We  sometimes  think  the  people  in  the  grandstand  do 
not  care  whether  we  win  or  lose.  But  we  take  heart 
when  we  remember  that  Paul  won,  and  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  won,  and  countless  others  have  won,  with- 
out much  applause.  So  we  patiently  keep  on,  and  if 
we  fall  one  of  these  days — well,  I  have  made  up  my 
mind  I  shall  just  ask  three  questions  of  the  kindly 
soul  who  picks  me  up  off  the  dusty  race-track  of  life: 
"  Was  I  far  from  the  goal  ? "  "  Yes,  a  long  ways 
off."  "Were  there  many  others  ahead  of  me?" 
"  Yes,  there  were  many  who  were  nearer  to  the  goal, 
better  acquainted  with  Jesus  Christ,  and  more  devel- 
oped into  His  likeness  than  you."  Well,  just  one 
more  question :  "  Was  my  hand  reaching  forward 
when  I  fell?"    "Yes."    "Then  I  die  in  peace." 


XII 

GOD'S  STANDARD  MAN 

"As  his  custom  was." — Luke  4 :  16. 

EVERYTHING  is  being  standardized  these 
days.  Efficiency  tests  are  all  the  rage.  We 
are  marked  so  much  on  our  sleeping,  breath- 
ing, eating,  thinking,  to  see  whether  we  can  make  a 
passing  grade.  Our  soldier  boys  had  to  be  of  a  cer- 
tain height  and  build,  and  just  before  they  embarked 
there  was  an  examination  of  their  teeth.  They  had 
endurance  tests,  nerve  tests,  sight  tests,  and  almost 
every  other  test.  Not  only  our  soldier  boys,  but  our 
babies  as  well,  are  measured  and  weighed  and  cata- 
logued and  listed :  so  that  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  com- 
pare your  child  with  the  standardized,  idealized,  per- 
fect child,  in  order  to  see  what  percentage  of  health 
he  has.  The  idea  of  standardization  is  entering  every 
domain.  Our  movies  must  come  up  to  certain  re- 
quirements, else  they  shall  not  pass.  Our  milk  must 
have  so  much  butter  fat,  else  it  may  not  be  sold.  Our 
examination  for  life  insurance  must  grade  such  and 
such,  else  we  are  declined  with  thanks.  Our  pails 
and  scales  must  be  approved  by  the  inspector  of 
weights  and  measures.     Our  autos  must  climb  the 

i8d 


GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN  187 

Sixth  Street  hill  on  high.  Our  watches  must  be 
graded  by  the  Kew  test  for  heat  and  cold  and  double 
positions.  Our  safety  appliances  must  be  examined 
by  the  public  inspector  thereof.  Our  Browning  guns 
and  Liberty  motors  must  be  scrutinized  to  the  last  de- 
tail. Our  giving  must  be  up  to  a  certain  quota,  else 
our  city  will  fail  to  reach  its  standard  and  go  down  in 
disgrace.     So  it  goes. 

Now  the  only  thing  that  gives  us  pause  in  all  this 
is  whether  our  standards  themselves  are  correct.  I 
do  not  want  to  set  my  watch  by  a  regulator  if  the 
regulator  itself  is  wrong.  And  yet,  I  cannot  expect 
perfection  anywhere  on  earth.  Mrs.  Gatty  in  her 
"  Parables  from  Nature  "  tells  of  a  young  minister 
who  was  something  of  a  musician,  who  in  an  emerg- 
ency undertook  to  tune  the  church  organ.  He  tuned 
it  perfectly  according  to  the  scale  of  notes  used,  but 
when  he  struck  the  keys  of  Haydn's  Mass  in  five 
flats,  dreadful  discoi'd  was  the  result;  and  an  organ 
tuner  afterwards  explained  to  him  that  his  scale 
was  right,  and  his  system  right,  but  too  close  adher- 
ence to  a  perfect  tone  was  his  trouble.  Most  fifths 
had  to  be  left  a  little  flat,  some  few  sharp,  and  the 
octaves  alone  tuned  in  unison,  because  the  organ  is  an 
imperfect  instrument.  Wonderful  music  is  possible 
by  allowing  for  a  degree  of  imperfection.  This  is  a 
parable  of  human  life.  We  have  to  tone  down  our 
standards  for  the  sake  of  harmony  and  peace. 

"  There's  a  fleck  of  rust  on  a  flawless  blade. 
On  the  armour  of  price  there's  one; 
There's  a  mole  on  the  check  of  a  lovely  maid. 
There  are  spots  on  the  sun." 


188  GOD'S  STANDARD  MAN 

Here,  then,  is  my  main  proposition.  War  has  de- 
moralized many  of  our  old  standards.  Many  have 
become  colour-blind  to  moral  distinctions.  The  old 
Greek  said,  "  Panta  rei,"  "  Everything  flows ;  "  and  in 
the  flux  of  these  days  and  the  storm  of  the  times, 
some  of  the  old  piers  we  used  to  tie  up  to  are  in 
danger  of  being  washed  away.  Therefore,  if  there  is 
anything  permanent,  anything  stable  to  which  we  can 
tie,  any  unalterable  standard  by  which  we  can  judge 
ourselves,  let  us  to  it  by  all  means,  and  see  what  we 
register.  This  is  what  the  artist  does  in  working 
with  colours.  He  fears  that  he  may  become  confused 
in  his  judgment  of  shades,  and  hence  keeps  certain 
standard  pigments  on  his  palette  all  the  while  that  he 
may  compare  his  judgment  with  them  when  he  fears 
to  trust  himself.  So  in  the  realm  of  moral  standards, 
we  turn  to  one  White  Life  which  was  lived  as  man 
has  never  lived  before  or  since.  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
standardized  manhood.  He  was  a  one  hundred  per 
cent.  Christian.  He  passed  God's  efficiency  test,  and 
this  was  his  diploma :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased.     Hear  ye  him." 

I  am  aware  that  there  are  many  who  do  not  accept 
Him  as  their  example.  One  of  our  modern  thinkers 
has  said  that  there  is  something  incongruous  in  the 
idea  of  the  twentieth  century  Christian  modeling  his 
life  on  that  of  a  first  century  Jew.  There  are  others 
who,  like  Emerson,  do  not  regard  Him  as  the  ultimate 
manifestation  of  Deity.  They  "are  well  answered  by 
the  argument  of  the  gentle-souled  Whittier,  who  re- 
plied to  Emerson  that  if  Jesus  was  not  the  ultimate, 
Be  5v:as  at  least  the  best  representation  of  God  who 


GOD'S  STANDARD  MAN  189 

had  yet  appeared  on  this  earth.  Therefore,  until 
further  notice  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom  to  follow 
Him.  So  I  hold  Him  up  to  you  as  the  nearest  stand- 
ard ideal  Life  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  I  say  if 
we  can  get  an  idea  of  what  His  customs  of  life 
were,  they  will  contain  suggestions  worthy  of  our 
following. 

Now  the  visit  of  Jesus  to  Nazareth  gives  us  a 
bird's-eye  view,  a  pen  picture,  so  to  speak,  of  some 
characteristics  of  a  standard  Christian  life.  Let  us 
notice  them  in  turn. 

/.  The  Standard  Christian  Life  Begins  in  a  Chris- 
tian Home. 

There  is  something  very  beautiful,  at  the  same  time 
pathetic,  to  my  mind,  in  the  scene  before  us.  It  is  th^ 
springtime  of  the  year,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
springtime  of  Jesus'  ministry.  He  has  just  been 
through  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  and  the  temptation 
in  the  wilderness,  and  here  at  the  threshhold  of  His 
public  ministry  He  turns  for  His  inaugural  service  to 
His  old  home.  How  naturally  Hi5  f c  :t  took  the  fa- 
miliar road  to  Nazareth !  How  often  He  had  roame'd 
through  its  streets  with  His  friends,  and  climbed  the 
hill  back  of  the  town  for  a  view  of  the  valley  in  one 
direction  and  the  mountains  in  the  other!  Yes,  He 
loved  Nazareth  just  as  any  man  loves  the  place  where 
he  has  been  brought  up.  There  is  no  place  ?o  dear 
to  me  as  Baltimore.  I  lived  on  an  tig'y  old  coLble- 
paved  street  in  a  humble  part  of  town,  btit  my  heart 
throbs  whenever  we  near  Baltimore.  On  my  recent 
Eastern  trip,  when  the  train  entered  Maryland  I  went 


190  GOD'S  STANDAED  MAIT 

and  stood  on  the  rear  platform,  to  be  able  to  see  in  all 
directions,  because  it  was  my  beloved  Maryland. 

Very  well.  Let  this  geographic  fact  become  a 
moral  truth  to  us.  The  tendency  of  adult  life  is  to 
revert  to  the  Nazareth  where  we  have  been  brought 
up.  How  important,  then,  that  that  Nazareth  should 
be  the  proper  kind.  Science  tells  us  that  the  brain  is 
plastic  in  youth,  and  the  paths  niade  in  the  brain  by 
youthful  impressions  are  much  deeper  and  more  last- 
ing than  those  of  mature  life.  So  it  has  been  well 
said :  "  Convert  a  man,  and  you  win  an  individual ; 
convert  a  child,  and  you  win  a  multiplication  table." 
The  seed  there  sown  will  spring  up  into  an  abundant 
harvest.  In  every  schoolroom  throughout  British  Co- 
lumbia notices  are  posted  which  read :  "  Stop — Look 
— Listen."  You  see  the  idea.  If  they  can  implant 
the  idea  of  caution  in  the  minds  of  those  children,  the 
winds  may  blow  down  all  the  signs  with  which  the 
roads  are  at  present  placarded :  the  youngsters  won't 
need  them,  for  they  will  have  an  inward  monitor; 
they  were  taught  caution  at  Nazareth,  and  the  man 
always  comes  back  sooner  or  later  to  the  streets  where 
the  boy  played. 

The  Church  has  not  awakened  to  this  fact,  and 
hence  the  modern  emphasis  on  religious  education. 
Nobody  ever  heard  of  direct6rs  of  religious  education 
a  few  years  ago.  They  were  born  because  society  dis- 
covered the  importance  of  Nazareth.  Why,  if  Naza- 
reth is  growing  children,  Nazareth  is  a  thousand  fold 
more  important  place  than  the  college,  which  is  grow- 
ing scholars,  or  the  barracks,  which  is  growing  sol- 
diers, or  the  seminary,  which  is  growing  preachers, 


GOD'S  STAND AED  MAN  191 

Very  well,  how  is  your  Nazareth  getting  on  ?  "  What 
is  my  Nazareth  ?  "  you  say.  Well,  your  Nazareth  is 
a  composite  place.  It  is  the  nursery  where  the  boy 
plays.  It  is  the  whole  atmosphere  he  absorbs.  It  is 
the  street  where  he  romps,  and  the  friends  he  makes. 
It  is  the  public  or  private  school.  It  is  the  Sunday 
school  where  he  learns  about  God  and  Christ.  Are 
you  giving  the  attention  it  deserves  to  Nazareth? 
For  if  Nazareth  is  neglected,  there  is  no  use  in  trying 
to  make  up  for  it  by  getting  awfully  interested  in 
Jerusalem  or  Samaria  later,  for  Nazareth  is  the  place 
where  the  battle  is  either  won  or  lost. 

Alberta,  Canada,  has  an  official  branch  of  the  gov- 
ernment known  as  the  Department  of  Neglected  Chil- 
dren. Every  city  needs  one  such.  How  many 
Topsies  there  are  who  were  never  trained,  but  just 
growed.  Of  course  I  am  not  denying  the  fact  that 
God's  grace  can  reach  out .  and  capture  men  and 
women  far  beyond  the  nursery  age.  God  can  find  a 
man  in  Samaria  if  he  has  got  away  beyond  both 
Bethlehem  and  Nazareth,  and  as  long  as  He  reaches 
him  before  Calvary  the  man  may  be  saved.  But  how 
much  better  to  win  him  at  Nazareth !  Somebody  has 
figured  out  how  much  cheaper  it  is  to  prevent  a  youth 
from  going  wrong  than  to  cure  him  after  he  has  gone 
wrong;  and  while  I  have  not  the  figures  at  hand,  the 
contrast  is  startling.  Here,  then,  is  a  plea  to  all  par- 
ents for  some  attention  to  Nazareth.  If  Joseph  and 
Mary  have  been  blessed  by  high  heaven  with  the  gift 
of  a  son,  then  in  heaven's  ledger  they  are  debited  with 
that  amount,  and  to  balance  the  account  they  should 
be  able  to  present  that  boy  one  day  a  Christian  man 


192  GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN 

before  the  presence  of  the  King  with  exceeding  joy. 
At  least,  they*  ought  to  be  able  to  certify  that  they  have 
done  their  part ;  and  God  will  then  tell  the  recording 
angel  to  credit  them  with  the  salvation  of  the  boy  who 
was  loaned  to  them  for  training  so  many  years  ago. 

//.  The  Standard  Christian  Life  Recognizes  the 
Value  of  Proper  Habits. 

"As  His  custom  was."  Oh,  well,  then,  the  cantor 
of  the  synagogue  didn't  look  up  in  surprise  when 
Jesus  entered.  He  didn't  say  to  himself,  "  Somebody 
must  be  ill  at  Mary's  house,  and  they  are  suddenly 
getting  pious."  Jesus  wasn't  like  those  people  who 
only  come  to  church  when  there  is  a  wedding,  or  a 
funeral,  or  a  friend  coming  from  the  East  to  visit 
them.  No,  He  was  a  regular.  The  Book  says  it  was 
His  custom  to  go  to  church.  Without  going  any 
further  at  present  than  these  words,  "  as  His  custom 
was,"  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  necessity  of 
forming  proper  habits  in  the  Christian  life. 

What  is  habit  ?  Psychologically,  a  habit  is  an  ave- 
nue in  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain.  The  first  time 
you  do  a  thing  you  cut  the  road,  and  every  succeeding 
time  you  dig  the  road  deeper,  until  finally  you  do  the 
thing  automatically,  and  you  say :  "  Oh,  I  never  have 
to  think  about  that;  it  is  just  second  nature  to  me." 
Well,  the  fact  is,  you  have  cut  the  road  so  deep  that 
the  wheels  can't  get  out  of  the  track  if  they  try  to. 
But  this  is  Scripture  as  well  as  physiology.  Take 
that  verse  of  the  Eighty-fourth  Psalm,  "Blessed  is 
the  man  whose  strength  is  in  thee,  in  whose  heart  are 
the  ways  of  them."    I  used  to  wonder  what  it  meant. 


GOD'S  STANDARD  MAN  198 

Take  the  new  translation.  The  revised  version  says 
"  in  whose  heart  are  the  highways  to  Zion."  There 
you  have  it.  There  are  highways  in  the  heart  long 
before  there  are  highways  on  the  map.  So  the  Psalm- 
ist is  thinking  about  some  humble  Jew  who  has  so 
often  travelled  in  thought  up  to  the  Temple  that  the 
highways  in  his  heart  or  brain  are  tramped  as  hard  as 
the  Roman  roads  which  Caesar  built.  We  all  have 
highways  in  the  heart,  and  we  ought  to  build  these 
roads  to  the  right  places. 

Habit  can  be  made  either  our  enemy  or  our  friend, 
according  to  the  construction  of  these  highways. 
Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  poet  and  philosopher  that 
he  was,  ruined  his  career  by  becoming  enslaved  with 
the  opium  habit.  "  As  his  custom  was,"  he  took  the 
drug  day  by  day.  Hartley  Coleridge,  a  brilliant  son, 
formed  the  habit  of  intemperance.  "  As  his  custom 
was,"  he  took  one  drink,  and  then  another,  until  he 
was  a  wreck  at  thirty-five  and  a  corpse  at  forty-seven. 
This  was  the  man,  by  the  way,  who  had  written  sev- 
eral tragedies  at  the  age  of  nine,  was  an  accomplished 
Greek  scholar  at  twelve,  and  a  fellow  of  Oxford  at 
twenty.  He  failed  because  of  wrong  habits.  Ben- 
jamin Haydon,  the  painter,  was  hailed  as  the  greatest 
artist  of  centuries  on  his  arrival  in  London.  Scott 
and  others  went  wild  with  delight  over  his  work. 
Yet  he  paid  no  attention  to  proper  customs,  but  im- 
patiently cried,  "  Genius  was  sent  into  the  world  not 
to  obey  laws  but  to  give  them."  "  As  his  custom 
was,"  he  laughed  at  limits,  and  he  died  the  death  of  a 
pauper,  a  debtor,  and  a  suicide.  A  celebrated  count 
fell  into  the  habit  during  his  Nazareth  years  when  in 


194  GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN 

the  nursery,  of  begging  the  nurse  for  ten  minutes' 
more  play  before  being  put  to  bed.  It  followed  him 
through  life,  and  when  as  a  captain  he  found  himself 
with  his  men  in  a  perilous  place,  "  as  his  custom  was," 
he  delayed  ten  minutes  too  long,  and  sacrificed  him- 
self and  his  braves  to  the  enemy. 

But  the  picture  is  not  all  black.  Habit  can  be  made 
a  friend  as  well.  That  is  the  great  truth  which  is 
taught  in  Locke's  "  The  Glory  of  Clementina."  A 
certain  Quixtus  has  become  cynical  at  the  age  of 
fifty.  He  believes  goodness  is  a  mockery,  and  hence 
plans  at  one  turn  of  the  wheel  to  become  a  three-ply 
devil.  In  a  passion  of  bitter  rage,  he  swears  all  the 
evil  things  he  intends  to  do.  But  he  had  failed  to 
reckon  on  one  thing :  he  had  the  habits  of  fifty  upright 
years  to  contend  with,  and  he  soon  discovered  that  the 
customs  of  half  a  century  could  not  be  overturned  in 
a  moment.  Nazareth  bore  fruit,  and  the  fifty  years' 
training  saved  the  day  for  God.  Since  this  is  so,  let 
us  set  about  the  formation  of  the  right  kind  of  re- 
ligious habits,  for  the  great  laws  of  habit  apply  just 
as  much  in  the  spiritual  world  as  they  do  in  the  phys- 
ical. God  knew  that  we  were  creatures  of  habit  when 
He  crowded  the  Sabbath  in,  once  in  every  seven  days. 
We  don't  leave  other  things  to  chance.  Why  should 
we  pray  just  when  the  notion  strikes  us?  We  don't 
eat  that  way.  Your  employer  does  not  pay  you  that 
way.  Why  treat  your  soul  that  way  ?  Why  not  have 
a  schedule  for  salvation,  as  well  as  for  soup  and 
baths?  The  fact  is,  that  it  is  only  in  comparatively 
recent  times,  and  in  connection  with  Protestant 
churches  especially,  that  the  power  of  habit  has  been 


GOD'S  STAND AED  MAN  195 

neglected.  Under  the  Romish  system,  all  the  details 
of  life  were  laid  down  for  monks  and  nuns,  as  well 
as  for  the  laity :  so  many  hours  for  devotion,  so  many 
for  sleep,  so  many  for  eating,  etc.  Now,  this  can 
easily  become  abused,  and  all  rules  become  ridiculous 
when  carried  to  excess.  Custom  hardens  into  law, 
and  instead  of  being  a  convenience,  becomes  a  bur- 
den. But  the  fact  that  a  thing  can  be  abused  is  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  be  rightly  used.  And  so  I 
commend  to  you  that  you  make  your  religion  more 
businesslike,  as  well  as  your  business  more  religious. 
I  believe  in  the  Christian  who  gives  one-tenth  of 
his  money  and  one-seventh  of  his  time  to  the  Lord 
as  a  matter  of  custom  and  habit.  Therefore  do  I  be- 
lieve that  those  four  little  words  of  my  text  are  so 
important,  that  they  should  be  printed  not  only  on  the 
church  calendar,  but  on  the  hearts  of  every;  con- 
gregation. 

///.  The  Standard  Christian  Life  Recognizes  the 
Value  of  Church  Attendance. 

What  do  we  read  ?  "  He  went  into  the  syna- 
gogue." That  is  why  I  smile  at  people  who  say  they 
do  not  need  to  go  to  church.  They  are  so  spiritual 
that  they  have  gotten  above  the  need  of  such  primitive 
things  as  public  worship.  Indeed!  I  always  feel 
like  saying  to  them  this :  "  My  brethren,  do  you  re- 
member the  very  first  thing  Jesus  did  after  He  had 
received  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  and  proved  Him- 
self conqueror  over  the  Tempter?  According  to 
Luke,  the  very  first  thing  He  did  was  to  go  to  church. 
Now,  if  any  human  being  ever  had  the  right  to  sajr 


196  GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN 

the  Church  was  not  a  necessity  for  him,  Jesus  had; 
and  yet,  He  was  not  too  good  or  too  holy  or  too  bril- 
liant to  go.  Oh  no,  my  friends,  you  will  have  to  fetch 
up  a  mighty  big  argument  to  answer  me  on  that  propo- 
sition, for  over  against  all  you  say  I  shall  simply  pre- 
sent that  one  picture  of  the  Son  of  God  a  humble 
worshipper  at  the  ordinary  synagogue  service  at 
Nazareth  that  day." 

To  make  the  point  clearer,  let  me  describe  to  you 
the  service  Jesus  attended.  The  synagogue,  as  you 
know,  was  an  institution  which  grew  up  not  by  divine 
appointment,  but  in  response  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
situation,  possibly  in  the  time  of  Ezra.  By  the  time 
of  Christ,  the  order  of  service  was  fixed  and  invari- 
able. The  supreme  moment  of  the  service  was  the 
reading  of  the  law, — not  the  sermon,  as  with  us.  The 
reading  of  vScripture  was  preceded  by  the  opening 
prayer,  and  in  this  prayer  there  were  several  distinct 
portions.  It  began  with  the  recitation  of  the  Shema 
(three  passages  in  Deuteronomy  6,  Deuteronomy  ii 
and  Numbers  15).  Then  came  the  eighteen  blessings. 
During --this  recitation  the  people  stood  with  faces 
turned  toward  Jerusalem.  The  reciter  of  the  prayer 
stood  before  the  chest  containing  the  manuscript. 
Any  member  of  the  assembly  could  be  called  upon 
by  the  president  to  perform  this  duty,  and  Jesus  ver;^' 
likely  took  His  turn  at  these  opening  prayers.  The 
people  answered  with  a  loud  "  Amen  "  at  the  close  of 
each  petition.  Then  came  the  reading  of  the  law. 
The  Chazzan  took  the  sacred  roll  out  of  the  chest, 
removed  the  case,  and  placed  it  before  the  first  reader. 
The  seven  members  chosen  for  the  reading  of  the  law 


GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN  197 

rose  in  turn,  and  read  some  three  verses  each.  The 
Chazzan  remained  all  the  time  close  to  the  reader,  and 
watched  that  he  made  no  mistake,  and  read  nothing 
unsuitable  for  a  general  audience.  After  the  reading 
was  added  a  sort  of  commentary  or  homily,  which 
later  developed  into  the  sermon  in  Christian  churches. 
When  the  reading  of  the  law  was  over,  the  one  who 
recited  the  opening  prayer  read  a  portion  from  one  of 
the  prophets.  This  was  called  the  closing  lesson,  be- 
cause it  completed  the  service.  The  reader  read 
three  verses,  and  then  translated  them  into  Aramaic. 
In  the  story  before  us,  Jesus  read  this  closing  passage 
in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth.  You  observe  that 
Jesus  read  only  two  verses,  and  this  was  allowable 
because  He  wished  to  make  some  comment  upon 
them ;  and  so  instead  of  reading  three  verses  without 
comment,  He  read  two,  and  then  preached  a  short 
sermon.  After  the  sermon,  the  final  benediction  was 
pronounced,  and  the  assembly  broke  up. 

This,  then,  will  give  you  some  idea  of  the  service 
Jesus  attended  that  day.  Think  you  there  was  any- 
thing particularly  thrilling  or  inspiring  to  Him  in  such 
a  service?  Yet,  He  went.  And  why?  Well,  I  can 
tell  you  several  things  that  did  not  induce  Him  to 
go.  He  did  not  go  merely  because  it  was  customary, 
or  popular,  or  conventional,  for  Jesus  was  delight- 
fully unconventional  when  occasion  demanded  it.  He 
would  not  have  perjured  His  soul  just  to  do  what 
others  were  doing.  Again,  He  did  not  go  to  show 
off  His  new  clothes,  for  He  did  not  have  any  so  far 
as  we  know.  He  did  not  go  to  meet  His  friends,  as 
though  the  Church  were  a  social  club.    Nor  did  He  go 


198  GOD'S  STANDARD  MAN 

to  hear  fine  music,  or  an  elaborate  sermon,  or  lengthy 
announcements.  He  did  not  go  to  get  new  business, 
or  more  votes,  or  a  higher  social  standard.  No,  He 
went  for  none  of  these  things.  Well,  why,  then,  did 
He  go  ?  To  answer  the  question,  we  must  remember 
that  the  whole  Old  Testament  presupposes  the  public 
worship  of  God.  There  is  no  explicit  command, 
either  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  so  far  as  I  know, 
which  positively  enjoins  public  worship,  but  it  is 
taken  as  an  assumed  fact  all  the  way  from  Deuteron- 
omy 12 :  5  to  Hebrews  lo:  25 :  "  Even  unto  his  habi- 
tation shalt  thou  seek,  and  thither  shalt  thou  come." 
"  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  yourselves  to- 
gether, as  the  manner  of  some  is."  So  our  Lord 
placed  the  stamp  of  His  approval  upon  the  custom  of 
going  to  public  worship,  both  to  glorify  God  and  to 
encourage  fellow  worshippers.  The  Christian,  then, 
who  passes  up  public  worship  must  have  some  later 
revelation  from  the  Almighty  to  that  effect  which  the 
Scriptures  know  nothing  of,  and  he  must  be  a  supe- 
rior individual  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  found  it  necessary 
to  go.  James  Freeman  Clarke  puts  it  pretty  well 
when  he  says :  "  The  sermon  might  be  stupid :  then  I 
should  not  listen  to  it.  The  prayers  might  not  suit 
me:  then  I  should  pass  them  by.  The  music  might 
grate  on  my  ear:  I  should  try  not  to  hear  it.  One 
would  be  there,  greater  than  the  temple,  greater  than 
its  prayers,  its  liturgy,  its  priests,  its  ritual:  my 
brother  man,  bowed  before  my  Father,  God.  If  I 
did  not  go  to  church  for  anything  else,  I  should  go 
for  this." 


GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN  199 

IV.  The  Standard  Christian  Life  Recognizes  the 
Value  of  Sabbath  Observance. 

I  like  to  ask  three  questions  with  reference  to  the 
visit  of  any  person  to  any  place:  Where  did  he  go? 
M^hy  did  he  go?  When  did  he  go?  Suppose  I  tell 
you,  then,  that  Jesus  found  Himself  in  Nazareth  one 
day;  the  question  you  naturally  ask  is:  Where  will 
Jesus  go  in  Nazareth?  Then,  why  did  He  go?  and 
when  did  He  go  ?  We  have  the  three  answers.  He 
went  to  the  synagogue,  for  the  purpose  of  worship, 
on  the  Sabbath  Day.  The  Jewish  synagogues  of  the 
time  were  open  every  day  for  three  services;  but  as 
those  of  the  afternoon  and  evening  were  always 
joined,  there  were  really  only  two.  It  was  the  duty 
of  every  godly  Jew  to  go  to  each  service,  for  daily 
attendance  was  regarded  so  sacred  that  the  Rabbis 
taught  that  he  who  went  regularly  saved  Israel  from 
the  heathen.  Three  days,  however,  were  especially 
sacred.  These  were  Monday  and  Thursday,  which 
were  market  days,  when  the  country  people  came  into 
town  and  the  courts  were  held;  and  then  of  course 
the  weekly  Sabbath  was  the  third  special  day  for  wor- 
ship, and  hence  Jesus  went  on  the  Sabbath  Day  to  the 
synagogue. 

In  order  that  we  may  have  a  sane  standard  in  this 
matter  of  Sabbath  observance,  let  me  contrast  the 
attitude  of  Jesus  to  that  of  the  time  in  which  He 
lived.  We  learn  from  the  Mishna  some  of  the 
peculiar  customs  and  laws  of  the  time.  The  day  be- 
fore the  Sabbath  was  called  the  day  of  preparation, 
on  which  all  work  must  be  finished.  A  tailor  might  not 
go  out  carrying  his  needle  near  dusk  on  Friday  even- 


200  GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN 

ing,  lest  he  forget  and  carry  it  a  moment  after  sunset, 
for  this  would  be  breaking  the  Sabbath,  which  of 
course  began  at  simset  on  Friday  night.  If  a  house- 
wife started  to  fry  meat,  onions,  or  eggs  before  sun- 
set, she  must  make  sure  to  have  them  done  before  the 
Sabbath  began.  In  the  case  of  our  Saviour's  death 
on  the  cross  at  three  o'clock  Friday  afternoon,  Joseph 
and  his  friends  had  to  finish  the  temporary  burial  and 
reach  their  homes  before  sunset.  This  explains  th(§' 
haste  with  which  Jesus  was  taken  down  from  the 
cross,  and  also  the  fact  that  the  embalming  of  His 
body  could  not  be  finished  until  Sunday  morning, 
spices  being  prepared  after  sunset  Saturday  night. 
A  person  could  not  walk  on  the  grass  with  nailed 
shoes  on  the  Sabbath,  for  this  was  a  kind  of  thresh- 
ing. One  could  not  catch  an  insect  on  one's  body,  for 
this  was  a  kind  of  hunting.  It  was  seriously  debated 
whether  you  ought  to  eat  a  fresh  egg  on  Sunday,  be- 
cause the  egg  had  probably  been  prepared  by  the  hen 
on  the  Sabbath' Day,  and  therefore  you  were  encourag- 
ing the  hen  to  break  the  day  of  rest.  If  a  man  was 
suffering  from  toothache,  he  was  forbidden  to  take 
vinegar  in  his  mouth  if  he  spat  it  out  again,  but  he 
was  allowed  to  take  it  if  he  swallowed  it.  A  sailor  in 
a  storm  would  refuse  to  touch  the  helm  after  sunset. 
As  late  as  1492,  when  the  Jews  were  expelled  from 
Spain,  they  were  reduced  to  living  on  grass;  yet  on 
the  Sabbath  they  would  not  pluck  the  grass  with  their 
hands,  but  groveled  on  their  knees  and  bit  it  off  with 
their  teeth.  A  few  years  ago  in  Jerusalem  a  fire 
broke  out  in  the  Jewish  quarter  on  Saturday;  but  as 
the  law  forbade  kindling  fires  on  the  Sabbath,  they 


GOD'S  8TANDAED  MAN  201 

supposed  it  also  forbade  extinguishing  a  fire,  and 
consequently  three  young  girls  were  burned  to  death 
who  could  easily  have  been  rescued.  So  the  Jews 
have  been  known  for  centuries  all  over  the  world  for 
their  readiness  to  die  rather  than  break  the  Holy  Day. 
Into  the  midst  of  this  superstition  came  the  sane 
and  standard  Christ.  Now,  He  must  be  very  care- 
ful, for  He  knew  His  example  would  guide  His  fol- 
lowers all  through  the  years  to  come.  How  did  He 
observe  the  Sabbath  Day?  That  is  a  fair  question, 
and  I  think  it  may  be  answered  in  three  simple  state- 
ments: (a)  Jesus  by  His  actions  upheld  the  general 
use  of  the  Sabbath  Day  as  a  day  of  rest  and  worship. 
He  observed  the  usual  requirements  of  the  law,  ex- 
cept when  these  conflicted  with  some  higher  principle. 
It  was  customary  then,  as  now,  to  give  a  festive  turn 
to  the  day  by  wearing  the  best  clothes  and  having 
the  best  provisions  obtainable,  and  Jesus  probably 
fell  in  with  these  and  other  innocent  requirements, 
(&)  Jesus  held  that  the  well-being  of  man  was  more 
important  than  the  rigid  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
as  interpreted  by  the  Scribes.  He  believed  in  a  sound 
mind  in  a  sound  body,  and  hence  performed  many 
acts  of  healing  on  that  day.  (c)  Jesus  taught  that 
the  ceremonial  observance  of  the  Sabbath  should  give 
way  before  any  higher  or  more  spiritual  motive. 
One  manuscript  inserts  the  following  words  after 
Luke  6:5:"  On  the  same  day,  seeing  one  working  on 
the  Sabbath,  He  said  unto  him,  O  man,  if  thou  know- 
est  what  thou  doest  thou  art  blessed;  but  if  thou 
knowest  not,  thou  art  accursed  and  a  transgressor 
^of  the  law."    That  is  to  say,  the  man  is  pronounced 


202  GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN 

blessed  if  he  is  breaking  the  trammels  of  the  law  in 
response  to  some  higher  call;  but  if  not,  he  is  guilty 
of  Sabbath  desecration.  Let  us,  then,  take  these  three 
principles,  and  the  example  of  Jesus,  our  great  Pat- 
tern, down  into  the  problem  of  Sabbath  observance 
to-day.  It  is  confessedly  a  big  problem,  but  if  we 
shall  faithfully  seek  to  follow  our  great  Guide,  we 
shall  have  light  enough  to  walk  by,  I  am  sure. 

V.  The  Standard  Christian  Life  Recognizes  the 
Value  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Read  this  fourth  chapter  of  Luke,  and  ponder  the 
scene  as  I  have  done.  The  Master  was  probably 
recognized  when  He  came  into  the  synagogue,  and 
the  attendant  asked  him  to  read  the  closing  lesson, 
handing  him  the  roll  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah.  Jesus 
knew  His  Bible.  I  have  wondered  what  words  He 
would  have  read  from  the  other  prophets.  At  any 
rate,  He  knew  His  Isaiah,  and  turned  at  once  to 
the  passage  He  wanted,  and  read  it.  Now,  here  is  the 
interesting  thing.  Listen !  "And  he  closed  the  book, 
and  gave  it  to  the  minister,  and  sat  down.  And  the 
eyes  of  all  them  that  were  in  the  synagogue  were 
fastened  on  him."  The  point  is.  He  attracted  general 
attention  just  from  the  way  He  read  the  Scripture, 
and  before  He  had  made  any  comment  at  all.  Some 
preachers  rush  from  the  Scripture  to  get  to  their 
sermon,  but  not  so  with  Jesus.  He  must  have  read 
it  with  unique  emphasis  and  intonation. 

One  commendable  thing,  then,  I  find  in  this  old 
synagogue  order  of  worship:  The  great  moment  of 
the  service  was  when  the  law  was  uncovered  and 


GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN  203 

read.  The  sermon  itself  was  only  a  translation  into 
the  language  of  the  people,  with  a  few  comments  or 
explanations.  We  have  given  the  sermon  the  place 
of  supreme  emphasis,  but  they  did  not  make  that 
mistake.  Man's  comment  was  secondary,  and  God's 
was  primary.  They  were  right,  and  we  are  wrong. 
I  enter  in  fancy  their  synagogue.  There  it  is,  on  the 
highest  piece  of  land  in  the  town.  The  end  opposite 
the  entrance  points  to  Jerusalem,  and  there  at  that 
end  are  the  seats  of  the  elders,  and  in  the  midst  of 
these  is  the  ark  in  which  the  roll  of  the  law  was  pre- 
served. I  see  the  Rabbi  take  the  scroll  from  the  ark 
and  reverently  unroll  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  con- 
gregation may  not  look  upon  the  writing.  I  note  that 
my  Lord  stood  up  to  read,  for  the  law  was  that  one 
must  stand  while  reading  the  prophets,  and  might 
remain  seated  while  reading  from  the  historical 
books.  I  like  to  imagine  myself  one  of  the  congre- 
gation. Don't  you  wish  you  could  have  been  there? 
I  know  my  eyes,  like  theirs,  would  have  been  riveted 
on  Him  and  I  know  I  should  have  hung  on  His 
words.  I  see  Him  as  He  takes  His  seat.  I  see  the 
people  nudge  one  another  and  say :  "  Is  not  this  the 
carpenter's  son?"  Then  I  hear  again  His  brave, 
stinging  words.  I  see  the  gathering  storm  as  their 
brows  wrinkle,  and, the  leaders  rise  from  their  seats, 
and  a  mob  forms,  and  they  hustle  God's  Gentleman 
out  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  to  murder  Him — for  His 
sermon.  And  then  I  come  to  myself,  and  I  say: 
"  Maybe  if  I  preached  God's  Word  as  He  preached 
it,  they  would  want  to  murder  me  too,"  and  then  I 
remember  my  theme,  and  I  exclaim,  "  If  He  is  God's 


204  GOD'S  STANDAED  MAN 

standard  man,  what  chance  have  I  ?  "     And  I  cry  out 
with  the  question  of  Josiah  Conder: 

"How  shall  I  follow  Him  I  serve? 
How  shall  I  copy  Him  I  love  ?  " 

The  only  answer  I  know  is  to  put  His  life  up 
against  my  poor  imperfect  one,  and  like  the  child  of 
the  copy-book,  try  to  make  my  poor  scrawl  of  a  life 
more  and  more  like  the  perfect  pattern  at  the  top  of 
the  page.  God  help  us  all  to  keep  struggling  on,  "  till 
we  all  come  to  a  perfect  man,  to  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ "  1 


XIII 
NEAR-SIGHTED  NAZARETH 

"  Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary,  the  brother  of 
James  .  .  .  ?  And  are  not  his  sisters  here  .  .  .  f 
And  they  were  offended  at  him." — Mark  6:  3. 

WELL,  that  was  a  pretty  good  biography  of 
Jesus  for  twenty  words,  wasn't  it?  It 
reads  about  like  a  city  directory.  Name : 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Trade:  Carpenter.  Name  of 
mother:  Mary.  Names  of  younger  brothers:  James 
and  Joses  and  Juda  and  Simon.  Sisters :  Names  un- 
known, but  living  at  same  address.  About  the  only 
thing  it  omits  is  the  telephone  number.  Yes,  some- 
body drew  a  diagram  of  Jesus'  family  tree,  and  then 
looked  at  the  map,  and  went  off  in  disgust.  This 
text,  you  understand,  is  the  comment  of  certain  citi- 
zens of  Nazareth,  Palestine,  about  the  preacher  who 
filled  their  pulpit  one  Sabbath  in  the  year  a.  d.  27. 
I  have  heard  many  comments  on  sermons  after  serv- 
ice, but  never  one  like  this.  Usually  if  a  man  becomes 
famous,  his  home  town  is  very  proud  of  him,  and 
gives  him  a  royal  welcome  when  he  returns.  But  in 
this  case  the  townsfolk  of  Jesus  said  in  effect :  "  No- 
body can  be  great  who  has  ever  lived  next  to  us. 
Nobody  can  be  famous  whose  family  we  know." 
They  failed  to  see  the  reflection  on  themselves  which 
these  words  implied. 

Let  us  see  where  we  are  in  the  life  of  Jesus.     The 
205 


206  NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

fact  is  that  our  Lord  has  just  completed  a  wonderful 
cycle  of  miracles,  and  Mark  sketches  these  wondrous 
works  in  swift  succession  in  order  to  reach  a  climax 
in  the  scene  of  the  text.  First,  the  Master  stills  the 
storm  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  Nature  found  her  Mas- 
ter for  the  first  time  since  God  told  the  stars  to  shine, 
and  the  winds  to  blow,  and  the  waters  to  surge.  Here 
is  One  who  can  take  the  sea  in  His  lap  like  a  fretful 
child,  and  hush  it  to  sleep.  The  second  scene  in 
Mark's  drama  is  over  in  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes, 
where  the  Lord  finds  a  candidate  for  the  ministry  in 
the  cemetery,  and  transforms  the  Gadarene  demoniac 
into  a  Gadarene  evangelist  who  preached  with  such 
power  that  all  men  marvelled  at  him.  Being  invited 
out  of  their  country  by  those  city  officials,  who  pre- 
ferred swine  to  souls,  the  Master  took  ship  and  went 
to  Capernaum.  Hardly  has  His  boat  landed  when  the 
third  scene  is  introduced  by  an  official  from  the  syna- 
gogue of  the  city,  who  flings  himself  passionately  at 
Jesus'  feet,  and  asks  Him  to  hasten  to  his  home  to 
save  his  little  dying  girl  twelve  years  of  age.  The 
good  Physician  starts  on  His  way,  and  in  the  crowd 
is  touched  by  the  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood, 
whom  He  also  heals.  Arrived  at  the  house  He  puts 
the  undertakers,  and  the  paid  mourners,  and  the  rela- 
tives and  friends  out  of  the  room,  because  they 
laughed  at  what  He  said  and  what  He  knew  to  be 
true.  Out  they  went,  and  back  came  the  spirit  of  the 
little  girl.  Now  notice :  Jesus  has  demonstrated  His 
power  in  four  different  realms.  He  is  supreme  over 
ocean  wave,  and  demon  spirit,  and  wasted  body,  and 
pulseless  heart.    If  this  keeps  on,  He  will  ride  on  a 


NEAR-SIGHTED  NAZARETH  207 

flood-tide  of  popularity  into  the  hearts  of  the  people. 
What  will  He  do  now?  In  the  height  of  His  glory 
He  comes  back  to  Nazareth  once  more.  He  had 
visited  there  before,  and  they  had  almost  broken  His 
heart;  but  believing  as  He  does  in  the  Gospel  of  the 
Second  Chance,  He  goes  home  again.  It  was  an 
easy  day's  journey  from  Capernaum  on  the  lakeside 
to  Nazareth  among  the  hills,  and  the  Master  hopes 
that  some  tidings  of  His  success  have  reached  His 
fellow-townsmen  by  this  time.  So  home  the  con- 
quering Hero  comes. 

We  have  now  reached  the  text.  My  text  is  really 
the  matchless  little  cameo,  this  cartoon,  if  you  will, 
the  first  six  verses  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  Mark.  I 
am  so  thankful  for  this  human  picture  of  Jesus,  who 
is  anxious,  like  every  other  man  in  the  height  of  his 
power,  to  get  back  home.  "  It  is  all  right  to  have 
them  love  me  at  Capernaum,  but  what  do  they  say 
about  me  at  Nazareth  ?  "  There  is  no  word  for  home 
in  the  Hebrew  language,  because  the  sons  of  Pales- 
tine have  always  regarded  themselves  as  pilgrim 
strangers  in  the  earth,  but  their  word  for  house 
means  a  refuge;  Jesus  was  thus  seeking  a  refuge 
back  with  His  old  friends  and  neighbours:  for 
whether  it  be  Nazareth  or  New  York,  there  is  no 
place  like  home. 

When  Dom  Pedro  II,  Emperor  of  Brazil,  died 
in  Paris  some  years  ago,  he  was  laid  to  rest  in 
the  soil  of  his  native  land,  which  he  had  brought 
with  him  (when  compelled  to  abdicate  his  throne) 
for  that  very  purpose.  He  would  sleep  in  South 
American   soil  even   in   France.    When   Mr.   Lin- 


208  NEAESIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

coin  received  the  news  of  his  nomination  by  the 
Chicago  Convention  in  i860,  he  crushed  the  dispatch 
into  his  pocket,  and  amid  the  shouts  of  those  around, 
quietly  rose  and  said,  "  There  is  a  little  woman  down 
at  our  house  who  would  like  to  hear  about  this.  I 
think  I  will  go  down  and  tell  her."  When  Mr.  Gar- 
field took  the  oath  of  office  as  President  of  the  United 
States  before  the  assembled  thousands,  the  first  thing 
he  did  as  President  was  to  bend  and  kiss  the  aged 
mother  who  had  followed  him  with  her  love  and 
prayers  from  the  canal-boat  to  the  White  House. 
Then,  too,  when  the  Roman  General  came  home  after 
winning  his  country's  battles  abroad,  he  was  honoured 
by  a  triumphal  arch  'neath  which  he  marched  in 
majesty,  and  was  accompanied  to  his  home  by  the 
anthems  of  an  appreciative  people.  Everywhere  the 
man  who  has  heard  the  plaudits  of  the  world  finds 
sweetest  of  all  the  praises  of  home.  How  was  it  with 
Jesus?  Legend  would  have  made  it  the  same  with 
Him,  but  the  honest  Scripture  narrative  gives  us 
instead  of  climax,  anticlimax.  The  Hero  of  Caper- 
naum and  Gadara  becomes  the  Outcast  of  Nazareth. 
They  called  Him  the  Carpenter  and  went  on  about 
their  business ;  and  He  quietly  went  out  of  their  city 
gate  with  a  broken  heart. 

A  Scotch  preacher  has  dared  to  try  to  paint  this 
picture.  He  portrays  a  simple  house,  with  a  group 
of  men  and  women  and  children  about  the  door.  On 
the  faces  of  two  of  the  men  is  a  laugh  as  one  of  them 
moves  off  to  his  work.  A  woman  is  picking  up  a  pail 
of  water,  and  another  turning  into  the  house.  Both 
are  indifferently  taking  up  their  tasks  again  after  be- 


NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH  209 

ing  interrupted  by  a  Stranger.  Only  the  children  are 
wistfully  watching  the  Man  as  He  goes  down  the 
road.  As  for  the  Master,  His  garments  are  travel- 
stained.  His  feet  bleeding  from  the  long  jour- 
ney to  reach  His  home,  and  His  gait  is  marked  by 
weariness.  There  is  no  anger  in  His  eyes,  but  His 
head  is  bent  upon  His  breast,  His  hands  hang  heavy 
at  His  side,  and  the  evening  mists  are  gathering  be- 
fore Him  as  He  trudges  on  into  the  night. 

This  text  of  ours  catches  the  Saviour  before  He 
leaves  town.  I  propose  to  go  through  that  Sabbath 
day  with  Him,  and  note  the  evolution  of  the  unbelief 
of  these  Nazarenes.  The  trouble  with  the  people 
was,  they  were  near-sighted.  They  needed  spectacles. 
They  were  suffering  from  moral  astigmatism.  Their 
lenses  were  in  bad  need  of  repair.  Their  horizon  was 
too  small.  And  we  can  discover,  I  think,  three  steps 
in  their  attitude,  or  three  degrees  in  their  near-sight- 
edness. The  first  result  of  their  near-sightedness  was 
Admiration,  the  second  was  Indignation,  and  the  third 
was  Lost  Salvation.     Let  us  study  these  in  detail. 

/.  The  First  Result  of  Their  Near-sightedness 
Was  Admiration. 

Some  one  has  compared  the  Christ  of  the  Four 
Gospels  to  the  several  hours  of  the  day.  The  Jesus 
of  Matthew  he  compares  to  the  morning  sun  in  a 
cloudless  sky;  the  Jesus  of  Luke  to  the  rainbow  set 
by  the  retiring  sun  along  the  track  of  the  retreating 
storm.  The  Jesus  of  John  is  compared  to  the  open 
heaven  of  a  perfect  day.  But  the  Jesus  of  Mark  re- 
minds us  of  the  afternoon  tempest  shouting  through 


210  ITEAE-SIGHTED  NAZARETH 

the  air  and  uprooting  the  great  oak  trees.  This 
description  is  true  of  the  scene  before  us,  at  least. 
The  Man  of  Galilee  comes  into  that  quiet  town  of 
Nazareth,  and  really  upsets  things.  He  blows  across 
the  tranquil  life  of  those  villagers  as  a  mighty  wind 
which  tears  up  everything  that  does  not  bend  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  direction.  The  people  begin  to  sit 
up  and  take  notice  when  this  unexpected  Visitor  be- 
gins to  speak. 

Let  us  picture  to  ourselves  the  scene  if  we  can. 
Jesus  probably  entered  the  town  quietly  one  day, 
and  without  furor  or  flurry  awaited  the  coming  of 
the  Sabbath  day,  and  then  went  to  the  synagogue  for 
worship.  The  synagogue  service  of  the  time  was  not 
stereotyped  but  free,  and  hence  the  presiding  officer 
would  feel  at  liberty  to  ask  Jesus  to  take  part  in  the 
service  at  the  proper  time.  When  the  opportunity 
was  given,  the  Master  began  to  speak,  I  can  just 
fancy  the  look  on  the  faces  of  the  congregation  as 
He  proceeded  in  His  address.  "  He  spoke  as  one 
having  authority  and  not  as  the  scribes."  You  re- 
member how  Simias  said  to  Socrates,  "  Cebes  and  I 
have  been  considering  your  argument,  and  we  think 
it  is  barely  sufficient ;  "  and  how  Socrates  replied,  "  I 
dare  say  you  are  right,  my  friend."  But  there  is 
none  of  this  apologetic  concession  about  this  Naza- 
reth Preacher.  He  sweeps  the  decks  before  Him  with 
His  majestic  pronouncements,  and  these  people  who 
had  known  Him  for  years  and  traded  at  His  shop  can 
only  gasp  in  their  wonderment  and  admiration.  They 
were  astonished  both  at  His  teaching  and  miracles,  as 
all  the  world  has  since  been. 


NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH  211 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  had  many  admirers.  When 
Schrenk  the  theologian  read  the  words  "  Blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart,"  he  exclaimed,  "  That  language  has 
been  spoken  only  once."  Jean  Paul  Richter  said  of 
Him,  "He  is  the  purest  among  the  mighty,  and  the 
mightiest  among  the  pure."  Channing,  that  broad 
Unitarian  whose  spirit  was  so  much  broader  than  his 
creed,  said,  "  His  character  is  entirely  removed  from 
human  comprehension."  Sabatier,  the  French  church- 
man, when  weary  of  life,  and  not  knowing  where  to 
turn,  said  he  went  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  because  in 
Him  alone  he  could  find  optimism  without  frivolity, 
and  seriousness  without  despair.  Even  John  Stuart 
Mill  found  in  the  life  and  sayings  of  Jesus  a  "  stamp 
of  originality  which  put  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  in 
the  very  first  rank  of  the  men  of  sublime  genius  of 
whom  our  species  can  boast,"  and  he  goes  on  to  add 
that  religion  has  not  made  a  bad  choice  in  pitching  on 
this  Man  as  the  ideal  representative  and  guide  of 
humanity.  Oh,  yes,  the  world  has  laid  garlands 
a-plenty  at  His  feet.  John  Hay,  nineteen  centuries 
after  His  time,  built  our  American  diplomacy  upon 
His  teachings.  Bernard  Shaw,  the  iconoclast,  asks 
the  question,  "  Why  not  give  Christianity  a  trial  ?  " 
Dr.  Gladden  claims  that  the  Carpenter  was  the  in- 
spiration of  Dante  the  poet,  Angelo  the  artist,  Fichte 
the  philosopher,  Hugo  the  litterateur,  Wagner  the  mu- 
sician, and  Ruskin  the  preacher.  You  remember  that 
only  twenty-nine  of  the  first  two  thousand  names  sug- 
gested for  our  American  Hall  of  Fame  were  ac- 
cepted, but  Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  had  a  practically 
unanimous  vote  of  the  world's  appreciation. 


212  NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

Now  I  come  to  the  point:  Mere  admiration  is 
not  enough  in  the  case  of  Jesus  Christ.  Look,  for 
example,  at  the  attitude  of  Nicodemus.  What  an 
astounding  conversation  that  is,  on  the  housetop  that 
night,  between  the  doctor  of  theology  and  the  Car- 
penter of  Nazareth !  Dr.  Nicodemus  comes  with  his 
admiring  and  appreciative  verdict :  "  Rabbi,  we  know 
that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God,  for  no  man 
can  do  the  works  thou  doest  except  God  be  with  him." 
Now,  you  would  expect  the  flattered  young  Mechanic 
to  reply,  "  Thank  you  so  much.  Doctor.  I  appreciate 
your  tribute  to  my  origin."  Instead  of  that,  what 
does  Jesus  say  ?  "  You,  sir,  must  be  born  from 
above."  What  an  amazing  reply  !  And  as  far  as  we 
know,  Nicodemus  never  came  out  into  the  open,  but 
instead  of  salvation,  contented  himself  with  admira- 
tion. You  see  the  same  thing  in  the  case  of  Peter  on 
the  Day  of  Pentecost.  The  people  marvelled  at  the 
things  they  saw.  But  Peter  does  not  allow  their 
emotion  to  stop  at  the  mile-post  called  wonder,  but 
hammered  home  the  truth  until  3,000  souls  had  made 
their  way  through  into  the  Grand  Central  Station  of 
Peace  with  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  Why  stop  at 
a  way-station  when  the  express  will  carry  you  home  ? 
That  was  the  trouble  with  near-sighted  Nazareth,  for 
she  mistook  the  way-station  for  the  terminal  and  got 
off  in  the  wilderness,  and  never  found  her  way  home 
to  God. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  who  board  the 
train  at  the  way-station,  who  ultimately  land  at  home. 
I  remember  the  young  Japanese  about  whom  Dr. 
Woelfkin  told  us  on  one  occasion.     He  said  that  this 


NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZARETH  213 

young  man  came  to  him  and  told  him  that  he  wanted 
to  be  a  Christian,  but  that  he  was  not  sure  about  the 
deity  of  Christ,  and  Dr.  Woelfkin  asked:  "What 
do  you  believe  about  Jesus  ?  "  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  I 
admire  Him  immensely.  I  regard  Him  as  the  most 
lovable  character  of  whom  I  have  ever  read.  I  would 
like  to  model  my  life  on  His,  But  I  am  afraid  I  can- 
not be  a  Christian  on  that."  Dr.  Woelfkin  replied: 
"  Take  Him  on  the  faith  that  you  have,  and  if  you 
are  willing  to  be  led  into  higher  heights  and  deeper 
depths  He  will  reveal  Himself  more  fully  to  you  as 
the  days  go  by."  And  Dr.  Woelfkin  said  that  the 
young  Japanese  came  back  to  him  some  months  later 
with  a  smile  on  his  face,  saying,  "  Now  I  know  that 
He  is  the  Son  of  God."  What  had  happened  ?  His 
admiration  for  Christ  as  a  Man  had  grown  into 
reverence  for  Christ  as  a  God.  Doubtless  the  young 
Japanese  could  have  repeated  sincerely  the  words  of 
Richard  Watson  Gilder's  imaginary  heathen  who  was 
sojourning  in  Galilee  in  the  year  32  a.  d.  : 

"  If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  Man, 
And  only  a  Man,  I  say 
That  of  all  mankind  I  will  cleave  to  Him, 
And  to  Him  will  I  cleave  alway. 

"  If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  God, 
And  the  only  God,  I  swear 
I  will  follow  Him  through  heaven  and  hell. 
The  earth,  the  sea  and  the  air." 

//.  The  Second  Result  of  Their  Near-sightedness 
Was  Indignation. 

Notice,  if  you  will,  the  strange  reactions  of  the 
human  heart.     The  same  congregation  which  at  first 


2U  NEAR-SIGHTED  NAZARETH 

was  delighted  now  seems  disgusted.  The  wiseacres 
and  officials  said  in  substance  this :  "  Why,  this  is  per- 
fectly ridiculous.  What  the  young  man  says  is  won- 
derful enough ;  but  the  idea  of  Him  teaching  us !  We 
who  live  out  on  Knob  Hill  have  often  brought  Him 
our  plows  to  mend,  and  here  we  sit  listening  to  the 
instruction  of  a  tradesman  who  has  never  seen  a 
theological  seminary,  and  has  never  been  licensed  to 
preach.  The  idea  of  a  carpenter  turned  prophet,  and 
of  a  mechanic  become  minister !  "  Now  all  this  dis- 
cussion was  going  on  while  Jesus  proceeded  with  His 
sermon,  and  it  was  rather  discourteous  to  the  Speaker, 
to  say  the  least. 

I,  for  one,  am  much  obliged  to  these  critics. 
Without  knowing  it  they  have  given  us  some  interest- 
ing information.  Here  alone  we  are  told  that  Jesus 
worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  Elsewhere  we  learn 
that  this  was  His  father's  occupation,  but  here  alone 
that  it  was  His  too.  It  looks  as  though  Joseph  was 
dead  at  this  time  and  Jesus  had  become  the  head  of 
the  house  and  the  bread-winner. 

One  of  the  old  church  fathers  seems  to  think  it 
necessary  to  save  Christ's  dignity  from  the  prose  fact 
of  handling  the  hammer  and  saw,  and  toiling  at  the 
carpenter's  bench;  and  so  he  says  that  Jesus,  by 
making  plows  and  yokes,  taught  by  these  symbols  the 
necessity  of  righteousness  and  action.  But  the  prose 
fact  remains.  Let  us  not  make  poetry  of  it.  Let  us 
tell  the  upset  world  to-day  that  Jesus  was  a  car- 
penter. Go  tell  it  to  the  man  on  the  East  side,  the 
man  of  the  Labour  Union,  the  Bolshevik.  Tell  him 
that  Jesus  was  a  Carpenter  before  He  was  a  Re- 


NEAR  SIGHTED  NAZARETH  215 

deemer,  and  this  will  bring  back  the  Christ  of  the  high 
altar  and  the  stained  window  to  where  He  belongs 
by  the  side  of  the  labouring  man. 

Will  you  stop  with  me  in  front  of  this  Carpenter's 
shop  for  a  moment  ?  Every  educated  Jewish  boy  was 
supposed  to  be  taught  a  trade.  The  Rabbis  said  that 
he  who  taught  not  his  boy  some  useful  occupation 
was  training  him  for  idleness  and  thievery.  The  vil- 
lage carpenter  in  Christ's  time  was  very  much  like 
the  modern  village  blacksmith.  Almost  all  the  agri- 
cultural implements  were  made  of  wood,  and  conse- 
quently the  village  workshop  would  become  the  center 
of  the  town's  life.  Our  Lord  never  forgot  His  train- 
ing there,  for  all  through  His  ministry  there  were 
reminiscences  of  these  days  cropping  out.  When  He 
spoke  of  the  splinter  and  the  beam,  and  the  green 
wood  versus  the  dry,  and  the  cubit  added  to  the 
stature,  He  was  running  back  in  memory  to  the  day 
of  the  commonplace  toil. 

Now,  let  us  turn  from  the  Carpenter  to  His  critics. 
Ho  for  these  people  who  explain  a  man  by  the  city 
directory!  Can  Stratford-on-Avon  explain  Shake- 
speare? When  you  have  threaded  all  its  highways 
and  byways,  and  surveyed  its  shops  and  studied 
its  life,  can  you  put  them  all  together  and  make 
Hamlet?  Can  Eisleben  explain  Luther?  When  you 
have  run  through  all  the  history  of  the  place,  and 
visited  the  Burgomeister,  and  met  all  the  dignitaries 
of  the  time,  do  you  get  the  materials  of  the  Lutheran 
Reformation  there?  And  similarly,  can  Corsica  ex- 
plain Napoleon?  Does  the  little  island,  with  all  its 
wide  expanse  of  ocean  view,  give  you  a  prophecy  of 


216  NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

the  French  Revolution  ?  No,  none  of  these  do.  And 
can  Nazareth  explain  Jesus  ?  Can  you  find  anywhere 
in  its  lanes  and  fountains,  its  people  or  possessions, 
any  explanation  of  this  Carpenter?  No,  the  city 
directory  is  not  meant  to  furnish  foundations  for 
character.  It  simply  tells  you  the  place  a  genius 
hangs  up  his  hat  or  takes  off  his  shoes;  but  it  does 
not  explore  the  man's  soul.  If  big  cities  made  big 
men,  we  should  all  want  to  be  born  in  New  York  or 
London.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  many 
men  born  in  New  York  who  are  never  heard  of  in 
Hoboken ;  while  another  man  can  be  born  in  Hodgen- 
ville,  Kentucky,  who  will  shake  a  great  nation  at  a 
time  of  civil  war;  and  another  Man  can  be  born  in 
Bethlehem  of  Palestine  and  move  the  world. 

"  Common  as  the  wayside  grasses. 
Ordinary  as  the  soil, 
By  the  score  he  daily  passes, 
Going  to  and  from  his  toil, 
Stranger  he  to  wealth  and  fame — 
He  is  only  What's-His-Name. 

"  Cheerful  'neath  the  load  he's  bearing, 

(For  he  always  bears  a  load;). 
Patiently  forever  faring 

On  his  ordinary  road; 
All  his  days  are  much  the  same — 

Uncomplaining  What's-His-Name. 

"Not  for  him  is  glittering  glory, 

Not  for  him  the  places  high ; 
Week  by  week  the  same  old  story — 

Try  and  fail  and  fail  and  try. 
Life  for  him  is  dull  and  tame — 

Poor  old  plodding  What's-His-Name. 


NEAE- SIGHTED  NAZAEETH  217 

"  Tho'  to  some  one  else  the  guerdon, 
Tho'  but  few  his  worth  may  know; 

On  his  shoulders  rests  the  burden 
Of  our  progress  won  so  slow. 

Red  the  road  by  which  we  came 
With  the  blood  of  What's-His-Name." 

Do  you  realize  the  greatness  of  the  people  next 
door  to  you?  Most  of  us  are  far-sighted  when  it 
comes  to  this.  Distance  lends  enchantment  to  the 
view.  I  wonder  if  that  is  not  what  the  writer  of 
Proverbs  has  in  mind  when  he  says,  "  Wisdom  is  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  him  that  hath  understanding,  but 
the  eyes  of  a  fool  are  in  the  ends  of  the  earth." 
Here  is  the  Persian  farmer,  Ali  Hafed,  who  sold  his 
possessions  and  went  far  in  search  of  precious  gems, 
when,  had  he  only  known  it,  the  great  Golconda 
diamond  mines  lay  hidden  in  his  own  front  yard. 
William  Winter  has  described  for  us  the  people  who 
lived  in  Shakespeare's  time,  and  passed  him  on  the 
street  without  knowing  whom  he  was : 

"  The  folk  who  lived  in  Shakespeare's  day, 
And  saw  that  gentle  spirit  pass 
By  London  Bridge  the  frequent  way, — 
They  little  knew  what  man  he  was." 

When  the  statue  of  a  literary  man  was  unveiled 
abroad  some  years  ago,  an  American  visitor  said  to 
the  widow  of  the  man  his  nation  delighted  to  honour : 
"  What  an  inexpressible  privilege  you  had  to  know 
him  so  intimately,  to  listen  to  his  table  talk."  "  I 
suppose  so,"  she  replied,  "  but  his  table  manners  were 
not  always  nice."    Genius  could  not  be  recognized 


218  NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

for  forks  and  spoons  and  knives.  "  Far-away  birds 
have  fine  feathers,"  indeed,  as  the  old  saw  has  it. 
MaeterHnck  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of 
Emerson  said  truly :  "  There  remains  only  the  life  of 
to-day,  and  yet  we  cannot  live  without  greatness." 
He  goes  on  to  point  out  that  one  secret  of  Emerson's 
greatness  was  his  discovery  of  the  sublimity  of  the 
commonplace  daily  toil  of  life.  You  have  read  how 
a  strange  workman  one  day  took  his  place  among  the 
shipwrights  in  a  yard  in  Amsterdam.  He  occupied 
himself  with  the  rudest  work  at  first,  for  it  was  evi- 
dent to  all  that  he  was  not  a  master  workman.  What 
was  the  astonishment  of  his  fellow-workers  to  see 
persons  of  the  highest  rank  come  and  pay  their  re- 
spects to  him ;  for  he  was  no  less  a  person  than  Peter 
the  Great,  the  founder  of  the  Russian  Empire.  Here 
was  a  czar  in  the  clothes  of  a  shipwright,  and  yonder 
in  Nazareth  was  a  God  in  the  guise  of  a  carpenter; 
and  if  we  look  sharp  we  too  may  discover  unexpected 
greatness  next  door  to  us,  in  the  guise  of  some  two- 
by-four  commonplace  soul. 

"  Joses  the  brother  of  Jesus  was  only  a  worker  in  wood, 
And  he  never  could  see  the  glory  that  Jesus  his 
Brother  could; 
'Why  stays  He  not  in  the  workshop/  he  often  used 
to  complain, 
'Sawing  the  Lebanon  cedar,  imparting  to  woods 
their  stain?  * 

"Thus   ran   the  mind  of  Joses,   apt  with  plummet 
and  rule, 
And   deeming   whoever   surpassed  him   either   a 
knave  or  a  fool. 


NEAR-SIGHTED  NAZARETH  219 

For  he  never  walked  with  the  prophets  in   God's 
great  garden  of  bliss, 
And  of  all  the  mistakes  of  the  ages  the  saddest 
methinks  was  this, — 
To  have   such  a  Brother  as  Jesus,  to   speak  with 
Him  day  by  day, — 
But  never  to  catch  the  vision  which  glorified  His 
clay." 

How  did  Jesus  receive  the  glad  hand  of  ice  which 
Nazareth  gave  Him  ?  Oh,  He  quietly  remarked  that 
a  prophet  has  no  honour  in  his  own  country,  and  then 
calmly  went  on  His  way.  Now  take  Mohammed's 
list  of  the  four  great  prophets:  Abraham,  Moses, 
Christ,  and  himself.  You  discover  that  Abraham  had 
to  leave  Ur  and  go  to  Canaan ;  Moses  had  to  leave 
Egypt  and  go  to  Midian ;  Christ  had  to  leave  Nazareth 
and  go  to  Calvary;  and  Mohammed  had  to  leave 
Mecca  and  go  to  Medina.  A  prophet's  home-folks 
don't  like  him.  Dante  was  expelled  from  Florence. 
Necker  had  to  flee  from  the  fickle  people  whom  he 
had  saved  in  the  financial  crisis  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution. Suvarof  was  scorned  by  his  own  king. 
And  Wolsey  was  turned  over  in  his  gray  hairs  by  the 
government  to  which  he  had  given  the  best  years  of 
his  life.  Truly,  the  world  rewards  its  prophets  with 
a  cross !  A  certain  text-book  on  Physics  in  discuss- 
ing the  subject  of  thermometry  mentions  principally 
three:  The  Centigrade,  the  Fahrenheit,  and  the 
Reaumur.  The  author  shows  that  by  the  very  irony 
of  history,  in  not  a  single  case  of  the  three  has  a 
nation  officially  adopted  the  thermometer  invented  by 
one  of  her  own  sons;  and  in  a  footnote  he  says: 
"  Truly,  a  prophet  is  not  without  honour  but  in  his 


220  NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

own  country."  We  can  understand  this  treatment  of 
the  prophet  when  we  get  a  proper  definition  of  him 
and  his  work.  A  prophet  has  been  defined  as  a  man 
who  goes  ahead  alone  and  opens  some  new  door  in 
human  history.  Holding  the  door  open  with  one 
hand,  with  the  other  he  wields  a  sword  until  hu- 
manity has  marched  in  procession  through  the  door. 
Then  when  enough  have  gone  in  the  prophet  finds 
that  his  work  is  done,  and  he  passes  on  to  his  reward. 
He  indeed  is  a  man  who  is  "  cannonaded  this  side  of 
heaven  and  canonized  on  the  other  side,"  and  who- 
soever does  the  work  of  a  prophet  shall  likewise  re- 
ceive a  prophet's  reward:  the  cross  here,  and  the 
crown  yonder. 

///.  The  Third  Result  of  Nazareth's  Near-sight- 
'edness  Was  Lost  Salvation. 

Doubt  Street  runs  in  two  directions,  and  he  who 
is  a  traveller  in  the  street  of  Doubt  may  be  headed  to- 
ward the  end  which  runs  out  into  the  Boulevard  of 
Unbelief,  or  on  the  contrary  he  may  be  going  toward 
the  Highway  of  Faith.  St.  Thomas  was  a  traveller 
for  a  while  on  this  street,  but  he  found  the  way 
getting  darker  and  darker  as  he  proceeded,  and  he 
suddenly  turned  him  about  while  he  still  had  daylight 
to  see,  and  he  made  his  way  back  to  the  broad  acreage 
of  Sunshine  Land  which  we  call  Faith.  Now  these 
Nazarenes,  on  the  other  hand,  when  they  once  got 
started  on  the  highway,  held  on  their  road  until  they 
landed  in  the  Tunnel  of  Darkness  which  we  call  Un- 
belief. It  makes  all  the  difference  which  way  you  are 
headed  on  the  Road  of  Doubt. 


NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZARETH  221 

There  is  such  a  thing,  be  it  known,  as  the  art  of 
doubting  well.  That  is  Plato's  definition  of  philos- 
ophy, I  believe,  "  the  art  of  doubting  well."  The 
poet  Browning  in  fancy  builds  two  worlds  side  by 
side.  One  of  them  he  calls  Rephan,  which  he  de- 
scribes as  a  world  free  from  the  pull  and  strain  of 
doubt,  but  as  a  consequence  utterly  stagnant;  while 
on  the  other  hand,  the  globe  which  he  calls  Earth  is  a 
place  filled  with  misgivings  and  doubts  but  at  the  same 
time  full  of  progress  and  hope.  This  is  a  true  con- 
trast, doubtless,  for  doubt  is  a  sign  of  life  if  we  will 
only  take  the  poet's  advice  and  cleave  to  its  sunnier 
side.  But  the  people  of  our  story  insisted  on  taking 
the  shady  side  of  the  street,  and  in  walking  deeper 
and  deeper  into  the  gloom  until  they  found  themselves 
in  the  Night  of  Unbelief,  too  far  removed  from  the 
Saviour's  gracious  healing  power  to  be  blessed  and 
helped  by  Him. 

Listen  to  the  record :  "  He  could  there  do  no  mighty 
work  because  of  their  unbelief."  That  is  putting  the 
matter  very  strongly,  is  it  not?  Is  it  possible  that 
unbelief  can  tie  the  hands  of  Omnipotence?  Yes, 
that  is  it.  Here  is  the  word  of  a  modern  psychologist : 
"  Faith  is  the  channel  through  which  the  power  mani- 
fests, the  power  itself  being  God.  Prayer  is  the  at- 
mosphere in  which  the  power  works,  and  suggestion 
is  the  method  by  which  the  soul  is  brought  into  rela- 
tion with  that  power."  So  modern  psychology  con- 
firms the  ancient  record:  for  if  faith  is  the  channel 
through  which  the  divine  power  is  manifested,  then 
by  the  same  token  unbelief  is  the  gate  which  closes 
the  entrance  to  the  channel,  and  even  Omnipotence 


222  NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

cannot  force  its  way  through  a  wall  erected  by  the 
human  will  without  doing  violence  to  that  will. 
Hence  it  is  that  healing  is  impossible  without  faith. 
There  is  one  view  of  the  miracles  of  Christ  which  in- 
sists that  their  main  object  was  to  produce  faith  in 
Him  and  His  mission.  If  that  is  so,  then  the  place 
for  the  greatest  exhibition  of  miracles  would  be  the 
place  where  unbelief  was  the  most  dense;  but  the 
very  opposite  is  the  fact:  where  faith  is  already 
present,  there  the  miracles  appear;  and  where  it  is 
absent  they  fail  to  be  manifest : — all  of  which  shows 
that  faith  is  a  prerequisite  rather  than  a  consequence 
of  help  from  God. 

How  is  it  with  us  to-day  ?  Are  we  pilgrims  of  the 
twentieth  century  still  marching  along  the  highways 
of  Doubt,  as  were  the  ancient  Nazarenes  ?  Mr.  G.  K. 
Chesterton,  the  eminent  English  essayist,  puts  it 
quaintly  when  he  remarks  that  modesty  has  re- 
moved from  the  organ  of  ambition  and  settled  upon 
the  organ  of  conviction.  He  says  it  is  quite  proper 
that  men  should  be  somewhat  uncertain  about  their 
own  abilities,  but  it  is  too  bad  that  they  should  be  so 
uncertain  about  their  convictions.  He  believes  that 
we  are  on  the  road  to  producing  a  race  of  men  so 
mentally  modest  that  they  will  refuse  to  believe  in  the 
multiplication  table.  I  will  agree  with  Mr.  Chester- 
ton in  so  far  as  this :  that  those  who  are  marching  on 
the  highway  of  Doubt  toward  the  darkness  are  fitly 
described  by  him,  but  I  insist  that  he  is  blind  to  the 
countless  number  of  pilgrims  who  are  going  the  other 
way,  and  who  can  sing  with  feeling  the  old  familiar 
hymn: 


NEAR-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH  223 

"  Here  in  the  body  pent, 

Absent  from  Him  I  roam, 
But  nightly  pitch  my  roving  tent 
A  day's  march  nearer  home." 

Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter:  if 
we  turn  our  backs  on  Jesus  of  Nazareth  we  will  be 
the  losers,  and  not  He.  Do  you  remember  that 
last  touch  of  the  artist  before  this  scene  closes?  Here 
it  is:  "And  he  went  round  about  the  villages  teach- 
ing." Jesus  of  Nazareth  insists  on  being  heard  some- 
where, and  if  the  city  of  Nazareth  will  not  receive 
Him,  a  village  in  the  quiet  country  will  take  Him  in. 
I  like  that  thing  Disraeli  once  said  to  a  discouraged 
Jew :  "  Remember,  you  belong  to  a  race  that  can  do 
everything  else  but  fail."  The  Carpenter,  Christ,  is 
a  Man  who  can  do  everything  else  but  fail.  He  can 
be  born  in  a  manger,  raised  in  an  out-of-the-way  vil- 
lage, apprenticed  to  a  humble  trade;  He  can  be  be- 
trayed by  his  friends  and  condemned  like  a  criminal 
and  die  like  a  convict;  but  the  one  thing  He  cannot 
do  ultimately  is  to  fail.  He  must  rise  again  on 
the  third  day.  Let  New  York  and  Los  Angeles  and 
all  the  big  Nazareths  of  the  twentieth  century  be 
well  assured  that  if  they  ask  Jesus  out  He  will  go, 
but  their  loss  will  be  others'  gain.  He  will  not  be 
stung  into  silence  by  their  indifference,  but  will 
quietly  go  on  His  way  to  victory  by  way  of  the  vil- 
lage places.  To-day  I  can  see  in  fancy  the  same 
Carpenter  standing  before  your  city  gates  and  mine. 
The  latch  is  on  the  inside.  He  will  never  force  His 
way  in.  What  shall  we  do  with  Him?  Shall  we 
fling  open  the  gate  and  lead  Him  down  Victory  Way, 


224  NEAE-SIGHTED  NAZAEETH 

and  give  Him  the  keys  of  the  city  to  keep  for  aye? 
Or  shall  we  just  quietly  go  on  with  the  Wall  Streets 
and  the  Broadways  and  the  Fifth  Avenues  of  life, 
while  He  sadly  turns  away  to  where  a  warmer  wel- 
come waits  ?  No,  by  the  help  of  God  it  shall  not  be. 
There  is  a  Carpenter  at  the  gate,  and  we  will  let 
Him  in, 

"Behold  Him  now  where  He  comes. 

Not  the  Christ  of  our  subtle  creeds, 
But  the  Light  of  our  hearts  and  homes, 

Of  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  needs; 
The  Brother  of  want  and  blame, 

The  Lover  of  women  and  men  <— 
With  a  love  that  puts  to  shame 

All  passions  of  mortal  ken. 
Ah,  No !    Thou  Light  of  the  heart, 

Never  shalt  Thou  depart. — 
Not  till  the  leaven  of  God 

Shall  lighten  each  human  clod; 
Not  till  the  world  shall  climb 

To  Thy  height  serene,  sublime. 
Shall  the  Christ  who  enters  our  door 

Pass  to  return  no  more." 


Date  Due 

j!«es««^, 

1 

-""wr   A  o     i-X 

3^ 

^^''eJteK^^^^wa^M 

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